Shezwae Powell, actress and department chair of Mt. San Jacinto College, is Arts Council Menifee’s Artist of the Month for January 2020. Valley News/ Courtesy photo
Shezwae Powell is the department chair for the Theater Arts Department of Menifee’s Mt. San Jacinto College. She was born in Riverside and was involved in a number of creative endeavors as she grew up including dance classes, church choir and piano lessons. Her father was a jazz musician and educator, and he saw nothing but opportunity for his daughter in the wake of the civil rights movement. Growing up, Powell and her family saw a professional career in her future.After considering the traditional list of jobs like being a doctor or lawyer, the family came to the realization that “being a psychologist would do.” Powell attended University of California Berkeley where she received a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Upon graduation, she began substitute teaching and launched a
