Jahi Mackey graduated from the University of New Orleans with a BA in International Studies and earned an MA in Intercultural Service Leadership and Management from the School of International Training Graduate Institute. He has a wealth of experience from facilitating community education programs to promote multicultural education to developing extracurricular programs spoken word/poetry slam programs to serving as a People to People Ambassador. 

N4: What excites you about Narrative 4?
JM: As a Louisiana native and resident, I am so excited to be able to have my home region experience a Narrative 4 Story Exchange. From sprawling metro areas like Atlanta and Dallas to small towns in southwest Louisiana and the Mississippi Delta, I see it as a powerful tool that can engage the cultural richness and demographic diversity of the South.

N4: What’s one book or work of art that changed your life?
JM: I most recently finished a book called Didn’t We Almost Have It All: In Defense of Whitney Houston by Gerrick Kennedy. It takes a deep dive into the life of Whitney Houston, connecting her painful struggles and glorious triumphs to a society plagued by institutionalized racism, sexism, and apathy for those struggling with mental health and addiction, whether they are famous or not.

N4: What the world needs now is_____________.
JM: Honesty. We must be honest about the condition of our physical, cultural, and social environment and what must be done to turn things around.