Imani Noel Ford

MEET THE LEADER

A black and white close-up photo of a young man lying on a patterned surface, with short hair, well-groomed eyebrows, and a slight smile. He's wearing earrings and a shirt with large buttons and a textured pattern.

A black and white photo of a young woman with short hair, lying on her side and looking into the camera, with a dark background

Black and white photo of a person with short curly hair, wearing earrings and a textured sweater, sitting indoors near a curtain.

Imani Noel Ford (they/he/she) is a Black, trans*, neurodivergent interdisciplinary artist, independent art critic, writer, and arts educator from the South Side of Chicago.

Their emerging art practice spans music production, video art, watercolor painting, creative writing, movement research, and performance, exploring Black trans embodiment and flesh as healing technologies and sites of knowledge production.

Imani holds degrees in African American Studies and Visual Arts (Sculpture) from Princeton University (2018), and an M.A. in English & Comparative Literature from Columbia University (2020), where they studied black female avant-garde dance performance and African Diasporic Aesthetics.

Imani has been practicing Vipassana and Anapanasati for nearly a decade. They are Reiki II attuned. As of February 2026, Imani is a Focalizing Somatic Practitioner. Imani is a 2026 Brooklyn Poets Fellow. They are also a Brooklyn Poets May 2026 Yawp (Poem of the Month) Winner.

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Outside of Black Body Productions, Imani finds peace in their writing, art making, laughter, good food, music, cracking jokes, and playing the dozens and braggadocio—a Black American magic they realize they have been using to manifest their ideal world.