Driven to advocacy
At the intersection of Black and queer, Chloe Cole-Wilson is making her mark locally — and maybe eventually nationally
For Chloe Cole-Wilson, advocacy never stops.
Whether it’s attending Black Lives Matter protests or supporting LGBTQ youth, Cole-Wilson is driven to make sure all people have the resources and support they need to live healthy happy lives.
“Advocacy is something that must happen every day,” the Allentown activist said. “We need to continue to advocate for priority communities. Communities that need attention, that have lacked attention for centuries. If we don’t respond to the needs of our communities in a way that supports their trauma and basic needs, then what are we changing?”
Cole-Wilson, 28, has been responding to those needs since she was a child growing up in Allentown.
Her mother, Ivy Cole of Allentown, said her daughter would always seek to ensure the children in her neighborhood had toys, which sometimes meant parting with her own.
“There has always been something in her that drove her to care for people. I don’t know where she got it, but she’s been doing it ever since she was little. I’m glad she does it,” her mother said.
As a youth, caregiving went beyond toys for Cole-Wilson. She remembers her first moment of activism as a young person happening around the events of Sept. 11, 2001.
“I got the kids together, we were asking such critical questions about what happened in New York City. I remember it well, it’s been a part of my blood since then,” she said.
Today, Cole-Wilson is the project coordinator with Project Silk, a collaboration between Valley Youth House and the Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center that offers a space for LGBTQ youth. It offers free
My advocacy is pulling up priority communities to the same level of privilege and access to basic human needs — respect and the ability to live long, healthy lives.” — Chloe Cole-Wilson
health services like testing for sexually transmitted diseases, healthy food, recreation, peer support, and discussions on a variety of health and social topics.
Zander Douglas of Allentown met Cole-Wilson at Project Silk shortly after he came out as transgender.
“When I first went to [Project Silk], I was a very angry kid,” he said. “I was dealing with a lot I didn’t have resources to actively and progressively deal with..”
Now a freshman at Kutztown University, Douglas says he “clicked” with Cole-Wilson.
“Chloe might be a human embodiment of action and of love, watching her and growing up with her I would say that. I don’t see how she would be so successful unless she was that,” he added.
She brings her creativity and compassion to the populations she serves at Project Silk, which has been particularly important during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are seeing how the COVID19 pandemic has affected the mental health and wealth of our communities,” Cole-Wilson said. “We are seeing how unsheltered folks don’t always have access to care. We are seeing how our health care system is affecting access to care and watching how the pandemic is taking over a half million lives. We’re also seeing the public school system implode and the issues are much more visible.”
Cole-Wilson came to Bradbury-Sullivan in 2017, following a job as a case manager at Valley Youth House. She was recruited to the shelter by Andrés Palomo, her former boss, after he attended a poetry show at Allentown Art Museum where Cole-Wilson recited pieces tackling racism and LGBTQ issues.
“She has the energy to get people to open up and rally around a cause and get people to follow through. Not a lot of people have that leadership, have that charisma and ability to sway people and to carry it out,” Palomo said.
As a Black woman who identifies as queer, Cole-Wilson has insight that helps her in her job and as an advocate for both the LGBTQ and the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color) communities.
“My advocacy is pulling up priority communities to the same level of privilege and access to basic human needs — respect and the ability to live long healthy lives,” Cole-Wilson said.
Cole-Wilson also understands the urgency inherent in her work.
“So many times in my childhood, I would be screaming for help, especially in high school. I was always screaming for help,” she said.
For her, attending XCAPE Dance Studio in Allentown made the difference. “That program saved my life,” she said. Through artistic expression, Cole-Wilson found a way to emote in a safe and comfortable space.
That continued when, while enrolled at Northampton Community College’s theater program, she reunited with Kristina Haynes, who she met at the Freddy Awards years earlier. They founded a group called Basement Poetry with a goal of giving voices to communities that have long been silent.
“We recognized the need for the space we were creating. At the time there weren’t many spaces for BIPOC and LGBTQ folks to come together and create art,” Cole-Wilson said.
From a small classroom, two floodlights and four or five wooden boxes, the group tackled issues such as racism, mental health, women’s and LGBTQ issues.
Basement Poetry continues to grow. Haynes, now its vice president, and Cole-Wilson, now the creative director, are joined by poet and performer Deirdre Van Walters. They stage shows at Bethlehem’s Touchstone Theatre.
In addition to the work she does with myriad groups around the Lehigh Valley, Cole-Wilson is enrolled in a precounseling program at Capella University.
Cole thinks her daughter will soon be known for her activism not only in the Lehigh Valley, but will be a player on the national stage.
“Chloe is going to be in the next 10 years very prominent in gender and race relations,” she said. “I imagine her being that activist that is going to stand out. She has that kind of determination.”
For Cole-Wilson, she sees herself continuing to fight for priority populations.
“I hope to develop and support advocates here in the place I love so dearly and everywhere if I can,” she said.
As far as her mother’s vision, Cole-Wilson said, “My work is about inspiring our community, and if I can inspire others on a national level to do this work in their communities it will fill my heart with joy,” she said.