Niki Thais: Creating Venus Roots, Pursuing Public Health And Learning Through Travel

Niki Thais is the founder of the online inclusive platform Venus Roots. Among many things, she's an academic, bilingual poet, feminist, event host, and an agent of change. Niki's latin roots, extensive travel experience, and relationships have gifted her with a unique perspective that I believe most of us can learn from and deeply admire! She is intentionally curating her platform to be inclusive for black and brown women whom she believes have been marginalized in artistic spaces. Keep reading to learn about how Venus Roots came to be, her reasons for pursuing a degree in public health, and how she used her surplus of college scholarship money to travel the world.

What led you to launch Venus Roots?

It kinda came out of nowhere. I've always identified myself more so as anacademic and carried myself more so in that way than the creative route. I began making friends who very much so identified themselves as creatives and they began encouraging me to explore ways of creatively expressing female issues and feminism as a philosophy. I went back and forth about it for a while but then I decided I should do it.

How did you come up with the name Venus Roots?

I knew that my platform would be female centric, that was non-negotiable, so I thought of Venus. In some way, I struggled with it because Venus is very much so a Western philosophy from the Greeks and Romans and I almost felt like why am I naming it with something that's so westernized already. At the same time, it's what felt truest because I've studied it and grown up in the "Women are from Venus, Men are from Mars" dichotomy. Then I thought about something that was happening amongst women in Miami and that was they were identifying, embracing and reclaiming their roots. It all happened within 30 minutes.

What's your vision for Venus Roots as a platform? 

At this stage, it's seeming like a collection of writing, and by that, I mean poetry and prose.I've always loved writing and reading both English and Spanish literature. My first shared poem was on Facebook notes when I was a freshman in High School, so I was about 14. That was the first time I was like "okay, this is cool".

I'm sure your poetry is cathartic in many ways, but who do want this to be for? Who is your intended audience? 

I want it to be for women like me. For black and brown women. My upbringing is very much so from the Latin perspective and I want to stay true to that because it's what has influenced my reality, but at the same time, the more you read the more you learn you realize it's all shared struggle. It's for girls like us. I want them to know that they can be all of the things they want. They can strive to be in the academic circle but they could also be dope ass curators, events hosts, writers, or take amazing photographs. We don't have to shrink ourselves, ever. It's very important to me to present it in the black and brown lens because there still isn't enough of it, especially in Miami, which I think is silly.Miami is a minority-majority city so we should be running it you know? Miami should be a hub for the best black and brown artists, but it's not necessarily there just yet. This is definitely "for us by us". Sometimes before I publish my writing I share it with my white partner and some things won't resonate, and I always tell him that's fine, it's not necessarily for you. There's always going to be that difference. 

Does having a white partner ever influence the way you word certain ideas as a means of not offending him? 

It doesn't at all, but that's because my partner is in a unique position. He's someone that's lived in South America longer than I ever have, studied Spanish for 8 years, and has only ever dated Hispanic women. So, I think he's someone that's very aware of varying cultures. I don't have to constantly explain things to him.

Regarding your academic studies, what is your area of focus? 

I love the public health field. It's a perfect intersection of all of the social issues we discuss, from gender, race, class, geopolitics you always see it in health. When you think of social determinants you can always see what's happening based on the community's health. I think it's pretty academic, but you can also make it social. It's a manifestation of everything we see on paper. In my head, it's a way of seeing all of the issues we have socially in a quantitative way.  

How has traveling influenced the person you are today? 

Oh my God, so much. After high school, I went to community college and received really hefty financial grants and scholarships. I was getting thousands thrown at me at 18. By then I hadn't traveled much so I decided I was going to use the money to see South America. My first trip was to Ecuador. I went to the Amazonian region and the capital, and you know once you get the travel bug there's no going back. So, I went to Peru and it just kinda picked up after that.It's mostly been a journey of me really embracing my ancestry. I grew up speaking Spanish and identifying as Latina, but traveling has given me a new perspective on how and why things are the way they are.

I knew that my platform would be female centric,that was non-negotiable, so I thought of Venus

Where do you see Venus Roots going within the next 5 years?

I really want it to be an inclusive platform. As I said, right now it's really just in its initial stage so right now it's really just my voice. I'm very into coalitions and collaborations so I think that's what it'll facilitate in the future.

If there was one message you could get out to the world, what would it be?

Just fight through the bullshit and don't ever question your existence. There are so many agents in this world whose sole job is to make you feel like you're not enough like there's something inherently wrong with you, and it's just not true. You just have to one day say, enough! Or, as Junot Diaz says "one day she will wake up and say y ya!". It's something that I'm still dealing with, but the earlier we can seep in that message the better we can do for ourselves and others.

Keep in touch with Venus Roots on Instagram at @venusroots.