Jessica "FM Supreme" Disu

Community activist and poet Jessica “FM Supreme” Disu was born in Chicago, Illinois to Ida, a music producer, and Segun. As a child, Disu took part in Kuumba Lynx Hip Hop Arts Program and Chicago Young Authors. She was a two time winner of CYA’s youth poetry slam competition, Louder Than A Bomb, and released her first album, The Diary of a Mad Black Woman Mixtape, in 2005 under the stage name FM Supreme. After graduating from the Chicago Academy of the Arts in 2006, Disu spent a semester at Marymount Manhattan College in New York City, but ultimately received her B.A. degree in international arts management from Columbia College Chicago in 2014.

Upon returning to Chicago in 2007, Disu founded Rez Publica Inc./CommonWealth Music Group, an independent record label. CommonWealth Music Group released several of FM Supreme’s records including The Beautiful Grind Mixtape in 2008, The Go State of Mind in 2010, and Beautiful Grind III in 2014. In 2012, Disu founded the Chicago International Youth Peace Movement, a program under the Holy Family Ministries that facilitated international peace exchange efforts in Chicago, England, and Asia. As the co-founder of The Peace Exchange: Chicago - Asia 2013, Disu led trips to Thailand, Myanmar, Nicaragua, South Africa, and India. Disu was also a founding member of the Black Youth Project 100, served on Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Commission for a Safer Chicago, and worked with the Open Society Foundation’s Campaign for Black Male Achievement. She also led workshops at Cook County Juvenile Detention Center, and was a creative writing teacher and HerStory Director at Josephinum Academy of the Sacred Heart in Chicago, which later moved to Bowen High School. In 2016, Disu gained public attention for her impassioned speech on Fox News’ Kelly File calling for the demilitarization of police in the United States. In 2018, Disu released a new music video called “Untitled, in the Beginning Black.” Disu has shared stages and performed at conferences with Chance the Rapper, Russell Simmons, Common, Nick Cannon, and Spike Lee. As the founder of the FM Supreme Company, Disu has also performed her rap and spoken word poetry internationally, and worked as a consultant to Fortune 500 Companies.

Jessica “FM Supreme” Disu was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on February 21, 2018.