Troya Bishop

Early Life & Education

Troya Bishop (born October 24, 1976) is an activist, author, actress and entrepreneur. Troya has over 21 years of experience in advocacy and nonviolent protests. Her passion traces back to her childhood, where she would often attend NAACP meetings in Tuscaloosa, AL, where she was born and raised. In middle school, Troya was given the nickname “Ole’ Badd Troya” by peers because of her unique ability to get adults to listen, and because of her feisty, but sweet spirit. In 1994 she graduated from high school and ventured to Washington D.C., where she attended Howard University. While at Howard, Troya participated in sit-ins in the H.U. Administration office in protest of a lack of transparency of funds and disparities in student housing. She also participated with thousands of other students in protest of the ”Truth-In-Sentencing” and “Three Strikes” Legislation. Troya’s activism and giving spirit did not end with human & civil rights.

After earning a degree in communications from Howard University, she received a Master’s of Education degree from Tennessee State University in Nashville, TN. Pursuing her love for children and passion for education, Troya taught middle school for 7 years (2000-2007) at Henderson Middle School in Chamblee, GA. While teaching she realized the huge gap between what teachers expected parents to do to support classroom instruction, and what parents were emotionally and academically equipped to do, to really support their children. After her realization and research on the topic, Troya left the formal teaching setting and later founded Parental Empowerment Institute. She wanted to provide parents with more parenting strategies and tools to equip them to be the best parents possible. Having her own child, god-children, lots of cousins, and other children she deeply cared for, Troya understood the responsibility and struggles that come with being a parent.

She formed a board for her 501c3, comprised of other concerned parents and former teachers, and began to teach basic parenting and child advocacy courses. Troya was also pursuing a doctorate degree, so she used her research in adult learning and emotional intelligence to lay the foundation of her practice.

In 2001, Troya married her college sweetheart, Roy Lee Sampson, Jr. Prior to their engagement, the couple dated for 3 years. They had one daughter Zoe in 2004. In 2009, they amicably split. To date, neither of them have remarried. Troya is rumored to have dated Atlanta rapper Young Jeezy, and acclaimed actor Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Activism & Work

Troya’s departure from teaching in Chamblee, Ga., a suburb about 25 miles north of Atlanta, was a turn in her career. In 2009, she began working as an advocate with Rev. Al Sharpton’s Atlanta office of National Action Network. As Leadership Commissioner (2010-2012) and Crisis Committee Chairperson (2011-2012) she was the first responder to many calls regarding police violence and other crimes of racial injustice. She served the families of many unarmed Black men who were murdered by the police: Jotavius Stafford, Ariston Waiters, Deonntre Williams, and unfortunately, many others whose stories did not gain as much notoriety and support. She served as a key liaison in many cases relating to human rights violations, most notable, the Troy Davis capital murder case. Troya was one of the many protesters at Jackson State Prison when Troy Davis was executed. This case drew international recognition, as the Pope, the President of France, and a host of others called for a stay of execution for Troy Davis based on new information in the case. A new organization called, Georgian’s for the Alternative to the Death Penalty (now called PAPE), was started after Troy Davis’ execution. Troya and many others continued to work to abolish the death penalty and support other innocent people on death row. After leaving National Action Network’s Atlanta Chapter, Troya continued her work in social justice and activism in other organizations.

In early 2012, the Political Director for the Democratic Party of Georgia,Rashad Richey, tapped Troya to work for him as the Coordinator of Volunteers and Community Outreach. It was there that Troya met and served with many elected officials in Georgia to educate and mobilize the electorate in Georgia. Troya also continued to hone her passion of social justice by being one of the founding members of Racial Justice Action Center. From there, two of the movement projects that resulted from that work were Solutions and Not Punishment Coalition and Women on the Rise. Troya worked with both groups to develop legislation to help returning citizens re-establish themselves in the community, like Ban-the-Box and pre-arrest diversion programs. Based on her solid reputation and lengthy experience in the social justice movement, Troya was often included on panels and asked to present information on social justice at workshops and seminars. While working with parents, she was often asked what they should say to their children about racism.

After going to bookstores and searching for products and not being about to find any, Troya was inspired to write a book, The Answers: A Parent's Guide to Discussing Racism with Children. Parents also asked what they can do to help their children to end racism, so she wrote an action guide to help them. Troya felt that often times people discuss being “colorblind” to state their acceptance for all and the distant approach of what African Americans should be doing differently. Troya insists that we compare African Americans only to other ethnic groups who have historically been subjected to poverty and oppression, therefore allowing people to halt ignorance and be more educated on the truth of minorities in America. Her first book. After much success she wrote another version geared towards adults who do not have children, and want to engage friends, family and community members in ways to end racism.

Presently Troya is deeply engaged in the community through another organization she co-founded with friends, AROMA. Troya is also engaged in a community with Columbia Middle School PTA in her neighborhood. She also active and working in the entertainment community, and was most recently seen portraying a waitress in newly released film, Night School starring Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish.

Troya Bishop[edit]

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