Damon A. Williams is a movement builder, organizer, hip-hop performing artist, educator and media maker from the south side of Chicago. He’s the Cohost of AirGo and Co-Founder of movement media and journalism hub Respair Production & Media. He’s also the co-director of the #LetUsBreathe Collective, an artistic activist organization birthed out of supply trips to support the Ferguson uprising in resistance to the murder of Mike Brown that stewards movement building community center The #BreathingRoom Space, with the mission of utilizing cultural production and popular education to redistribute power and resources, eradicate systemic violence, and transform inequity.

In honor of his leadership, Damon been named a TIME Magazine’s 2020 Guardian of the Year, a Field Foundation 2021 Leader for a New Chicago, a Margaret Burroughs Fellow by the UIC Social Justice Initiative’s Portal Project, and a Power of Cash Narrative Change Fellow by Economic Security of Illinois. He previously worked as a Community and Cultural Organizer at the Chicago Torture Justice Center, a community center for Chicago police torture survivors that seeks to address the traumas of police violence and institutionalized racism through access to healing and wellness services, trauma-informed resources, and community connection.

Williams started acting at a young age in many commercials and movies, including an ad for the Jordan Brand starring and directed by Spike Lee, and the feature length film RollBounce.  He attended Grinnell College, where he found his voice as a performer of spoken word poetry and as the creator and co-host of KDIC 88.5’s weekly hip-hop radio show The BoomBox, which was accompanied by an online talk show of the same name.  He graduated in 2014 with degrees in Economics and Sociology. Williams has led community outreach and seminars aimed at youth for over ten years, encouraging financial literacy and combating growing economic inequality in urban America.