Latetia Bobo: Remembering Our Friend Who Spoke Life to Many

“And if you really understood this God you speak of

Then your heart should be whole enough to speak life

Where there is none

Yes Ezekiel

These bones can live and they will live

There is blood crying out from the ground

Cain

And you are Abel to dilute it."

- Latetia Bobo at InterVarsity’s Southern California “Ignite” Conference 2015

The excerpt above is from a spoken word piece that Latetia Bobo, InterVarsity alumna and volunteer, wrote and performed for an InterVarsity evangelism conference in 2015. Latetia believed that Jesus has life for every student, every campus, and every part of our unjust world.

Latetia’s words rang all the more profoundly in our ears as we received the news last weekend that she was killed in a mass shooting. Latetia led our InterVarsity movement, particularly on the West Coast and among our Black Campus Ministries community, in a prophetic invitation to believe that God will bring revival to our campuses, but the revival will start in our own hearts as we allow Jesus to touch the parts of us that feel dead.

As I write this piece, I wish she were here to write it with me. I loved collaborating with her on writing projects. She had her own poetic words, and she also knew how to draw the poetry out of others.

Latetia believed in a big and creative God, and today we recognize how her creative vision spoke life into so many places.

Latetia Spoke Life to the College Campus

When Latetia was a student at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2015, she noticed a problem: there was no place for Black students to worship Jesus without needing to code switch in order to fit into the majority culture. At that time, less than five percent of undergrads at UCLA were Black and so the community was tightly-knit.

Latetia and her friends began to dream, there’s no reason we can’t give every Black student at UCLA the experience of a worship service. So they started “Black Church Mondays” where they’d bring Black church to a college lecture hall. Hundreds of UCLA students from many ethnicities and spiritual backgrounds encountered Jesus through a tradition that still continues a decade later.

Latetia’s actions helped change the way we think about church partnership in InterVarsity. She and her friend, Briana McKoy, started “Revive LA,” where they’d invite local churches to come prayer-walk on the UCLA campus.

They formed a strong partnership between the InterVarsity group at UCLA and the youth ministry at H.O.P.E.'s House Church in Granada Hills and This is Pentecost in Sacramento, California. Latetia and Briana brought church to campus and campus to church.

“It was the honor of my life to serve God’s people alongside such a safe, sweet, brilliant, and beautiful soul,” Briana said. “We were hurricanes. She is my sister for eternity, and I eagerly await ‘The Adventures of Bri & Teesh’ to continue on the other side.”

Latetia’s legacy also continues in the students she invested in. She chose to intentionally disciple freshmen at UCLA, many of whom are now doctors, teachers, lawyers, and professional artists. Latetia did a “Who am I” retreat with some of the freshman women and later worked with them to write a 20 day devotional book called, Soul Work: Who I am.

Latetia truly loved these freshmen, and she spent lots of time with them.

“We used to kick our RA friends out of their rooms so we could have sleepovers in them,” alumna Ashley Leach recalls.

Jennille Fleming, another alumna, also has fond memories: “We’ve blended our families and friend groups, traveled to many countries together, celebrated together, mourned together…”

The list of people who’ve been influenced by Latetia’s leadership is long:

“She had a way of seeing the gifts in people and calling them forward.” - Stanley Jackson.
“She listened to and accepted the parts of me that I had never shared before” - Megan Arden.
“She inspired me to take up more space.”- Esther Ekwueme
“She taught me to be bold about what God calls you to and to pursue your purpose with courage and conviction.” - Signora Dillingham
“She had the ability to make everyone believe they were capable.” - Christine Lindsay
“She discipled so many of us (both formally and informally).” - Natalia Williams
“She was a visionary” - Chris Carey

Latetia Spoke Life to InterVarsity’s Movement

Latetia was a dreamer. One lecture hall at UCLA was not big enough for students worshipping Jesus. She wanted to see every Black student in the West Coast experience what her community was experiencing, so she planned and directed conferences for hundreds of Black students from over 25 different college campuses.

“I love how much I had to keep running with you and your vision and ideas,” Eddy Ekmekji, Regional Director of InterVarsity’s Surf and Turf Region, said.

Latetia also made a big impact at Ambition, a national conference InterVarsity hosts every three years designed to help students start something new on their campuses.

Every Ambition, there are prizes for best ideas created, and Latetia and Briana won one year. Their idea was to host a “Me Too…What’s Next?” event where they would invite trauma counselors and teach students about inner healing prayer as they process the wounds from their past.

Latetia Spoke Life to Artists

Latetia graduated with an MFA at UCLA’s School of Film, Television, and Theater, and she put her talents to use. She worked on many movies, scripts, and award-winning short films, and even worked in production on shows across the country, like MTV's Wild N’ Out, NBC’s The Voice, and the NBA All Star Weekend.

Not only that, but Latetia helped many artists discover their callings and meet God within the industry. One creative, Julian Murray, said, “She reminded me that a loving God didn’t have to look stiff or judgmental… he could be joyful, creative, and real. Around her, I never felt judged, cast aside, or less than. I felt seen. I felt believed in. I felt loved out loud.”

Here are some other things her fellow artists said about her:

“She partnered with people to bring their visions to life. She was a creator and a visionary.”- Faith Carey
“You were more than just a work associate; you were my friend.” - Melvin Childs
“Latetia was a beautiful soul, a gifted storyteller, and a friend whose encouragement and love I will carry with me always.”- Aszue Wilson
“Teesh functioned as the first manager of my artistry career…She truly understood the assignment: Love your neighbor.” - Alwayne Spencer

Latetia Spoke Life Because Jesus Was Her Source of Life

InterVarsity alumna, Lauren DeVaughn writes, “I don’t know another person who moved masses the way she did.”

Another alumna, Kayla Alexander, writes, “People flung to her, and she loved hard back.”

Latetia could move the masses because she “really understood” the God she spoke of. God is not a small God. He is not a boring God. He is big. He is creative. He can make dry bones live.

Latetia really believed this. And she lived her life asking Jesus to revive her. And for many of us in and outside of InterVarsity, we have felt the effects.

As our movement mourns the loss of Latetia and her amazing influence on others, we are grateful for the ways she fully embodied InterVarsity’s vision statement: Students and faculty transformed, campuses renewed, and world changers developed. We honor the ways she loved and served, and ask you to join us in prayer for her friends, family, and the legacy she has left on many in the InterVarsity community.