Poet, performer, and writing coach, Meres-Sia Gabriel helps marginalized groups explore identity, inheritance, and transformation through personal and collective narrative.

Her current project, I Was There Too!, is a one‑woman show about growing up in the Black Panther Party. The show was galvanized by a 2023 collaboration with the De Young Museum, where she co-curated and performed a poetry‑jazz series within the Kehinde Wiley exhibition. Audience response to that work led directly to the stage.

In 2024, she launched the first ever public panel discussion and community conversation honoring the adult children of the Black Panther Party: Year of the Panther Cub: We Were There Too! Both the panel and the one‑woman show have sparked raw, healing dialogues between former Panthers, their now‑adult children, and younger activists about how movements can sustain family bonds.

Meres‑Sia is a featured poet in the Oakland Museum of California’s permanent installation Black Power in California. She is the bestselling author of I Twirl in the Smoke and a co‑author of the KQED/BE‑IMAGINATIVE watch guide for the Emmy‑nominated film When the Waters Get Deep.

Beyond her art, Meres‑Sia brings two decades of classroom experience. She is a former high school teacher of 20 years, an adjunct French instructor, a teacher consultant for the Bay Area Writing Project, and the founder of Life‑Changing Writing—a creative writing program for adults who want to turn lived experience into narrative.

When she’s not teaching, writing, or performing, she’s dreaming and enjoying life as the mother of two adult children. Meres‑Sia lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. For bookings, collaborations, or coaching inquiries, see the Contact Me section at the bottom of this page. And join her newletter to stay connected.