Reverend Dr. Leslie D. Braxton is the Visionary and Founder of Songs of Black Folk. He is the son of a church pianist and Choir Director, from whom he inherited an eclectic musical appetite inclusive of both sacred and secular musical genres. As an historian of African American history and culture, he has understood how music has served as a weapon of political resistance and as a source of hope for people of the African Diaspora living in white supremacist and anti-black societies. His lifelong aspiration has been to bring world-class fine arts productions that feature African American talent to the Puget Sound audience. Doctor Braxton is a native of Tacoma and a graduate of the University of Puget Sound. He has also earned a Master of Divinity Degree from the Colgate Rochester Divinity School in Rochester, NY and a Doctor of Ministry Degree from the United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. He is the Founder and Senior Pastor of the New Beginnings Christian Fellowship in Kent.