Uncrowned Community Builders

Tamaria Eyvonne Kelly was born on April 13, 1987 in Niagara Falls, New York. Her mother, Nina Kelly, was determined to have a better life for her daughter. This resulted in Tamaria and her mother's "big move" to Amherst, New York. In order to remain in contact to her grandparents, Angela Mae Kelly and Benjamin "June" Kelly, Tamaria frequently spent her weekends at her grandparent's house in Niagara Falls. She has fond memories of her grandparents' stories of life down south in Clifton Forge, Virginia and Mississippi. Her outrage for the challenges her grandparent's had faced, contributed to her interest in African-American history. She frequently took out African-American literature at Windermere Elementary. Her first African-American novel was Meet Addy: An American Girl by Connie Porter. After reading the entire Addy collection, she continued to read African-American literature by Maya Angelou, Michael Eric Dyson, Coretta Scott King, Alex Haley, Walter Dean Meyers, and Toni Morrison. Tamaria was inspired to go to college from these authors' writings.

As a college student, Tamaria focuses her major in Sociology on Community/Cultural Studies and minors in African-American Studies. She is currently a senior at the University at Buffalo. Tamaria is an aspiring social engineer with dreams of becoming a Civil Rights attorney, enforcing education and children's rights. She has a strong interest in enforcing interventions for juvenile delinquents.

Community Service is very important to Tamaria. She has participated in community service activities since her high school years, where she attended four Western New York high schools due to a series of unfortunate events. At Sweet Home High School, she was Statistician for the school's voluntary group, Interact Club, an active member of Future Business Leaders of America and a member of the Spanish Honor Society. Within these groups, she was exposed to the community service work by volunteering at several events for Weinberg Campus, Children's Hospital, and Hunter's Hope. Tamaria was acknowledged for her exceptional community service by several organizations which include; Ken-Ton Friends of Youth Foundation: Charlie Wolff Memorial, Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo: Edgar Bellersheim, Buffalo Urban League, Sweet Home's Spanish Honor Society, and the District Union Local One United Food and Commericial Workers (UFCW) Education, Safety & Cultural Fund. She has won the UFCW scholarship four times in a row.

After graduating from high school with advanced regents, Tamaria had served as a Day-Camp Summer Counselor for her neighborhood's children. She began her freshman year of college at Canisius College under the Martin Luther King Scholarship Program. Tamaria believes that it was her faith in God that has kept her focused on her studies. She became a member of True Bethel Baptist Church during the summer of her freshman year. Tamaria would further her studies at the University at Buffalo(UB), becoming a mentor for Big Brothers Big Sisters within her first-year .During the summer of her junior year, she participated in the Community Ambassador Program for United Way of Buffalo and Erie County. Tamaria is currently volunteering for the Uncrowned Queens Institute, where she works under the guidance of Drs. Bertram and Nevergold. She feels honored to have these women as mentors and hopes to one day in the future extend their legacy in preserving the her-stories and histories of African-American community builders. In the fall, she will be working on a project about the Uncrowned Kings.

Tamaria credits her family, the Kellys, Washingtons and Sanders in establishing her aspirations to succeed. Inspired by Alex Haley's writings, she hopes to one day write an autobiographical novel of her mother's side of the family. Tamaria states that her mother, Nina Kelly's trials and triumphs has encouraged her to strive for greatness. And last but not least, she believes that her little brother, Joshua Kelly's beautiful mind has inspired her to advocate for children's rights. Her brother has inspired her advocacy by maintaining a youthful spirit despite life's obstacles.