“Whom Must We Hire?” The Top 5 Questions Every College or University Should be Asking Itself (Part 3 of a 5 Part Series)

You have just finished making love to your beautiful third wife, who happens to be a 20-year old Sports Illustrated swimsuit model when you feel it. The unmistakable stutter thump of heart palpitations. You break out in a cold sweat, and a bracing pain in your lower left jaw strips you of the abi...

Who Are We, Really? The Five Questions Every College or University Should Ask Itself (PART TWO OF A FIVE PART SERIES)

Support and love are interchangeable words. And like love, support is an action word. Love without action is empty. It’s just fondness. Or maybe the absence of intentional harm. To this end, many organizations think support means to have good thoughts about, or good feelings toward, or not to b...

Are We Racist? The Five Questions Every College or University Should Ask Itself (A FIVE PART SERIES)

I have taught at colleges and universities for 15 years — art schools, community colleges, universities, even college age students in a prison — and what I’ve come to realize is that the U.S. system of colleges and universities or “The Academy,” as we like to call it, operates as a citizen in...

The FEMININE PRONOUN Series #13: The Kids Are Alright!

In this episode I prove that poetry works with seasoned adults, college aged readers and writers, and high school “novices.” I travel from Illinois’s capitol, where I read for the state legislators, and the Illinois Humanities administration, to McKendree University,  and I end with the brillian...

The FEMININE PRONOUN Series #11: Black Books, Black Children, & Black Love

This episode of The Feminine Pronoun youtube blog series finds me sharing the power and resonance of Fannie Lou Hamer with a population she loved — children. The EYESEEME bookstore (the only black children’s bookstore in St. Louis) provided a welcoming space for the inquisitive crew and their men...

The FEMININE PRONOUN Youtube Vlog #10: Black Poetry & Black Church

In this week’s episode of the Feminine Pronoun series, your intrepid poet (me:) signs books at New Life in Christ Interdenominational Church. I sold and signed copies of my book, *chop: a collection of kwansabas for fannie lou hammer*. It’s being carried in their book store, the LIFE CHANGER book...

What Do Black Childhood, Charter Schools, and Tamir Rice Have in Common?

Hint: Harriet Ball was her name, and she passed away in 2011. A veteran teacher from Texas, Ball was observed in the early 90s by two novice teachers, two young white men who were impressed by the way she infused the curriculum with rhythm and mnemonics that engaged the children thoroughly; much...

The FEMININE PRONOUN Series: “Inaugural Episode”

This is the first  of my “Feminine Pronoun” series where I take you with me around the St. Louis metropolitan area as I mother, teach, write, perform,  support the arts and other artists (especially artists of color and women), and generally try to move through the world doing no harm.  ...

The FEMININE PRONOUN SERIES #2: Traveling Through Illinois to Read My Poetry

#2 in the FEMININE PRONOUN Series. This video is about Traveling Through Illinois to Read My Poetry. I am listed with Illinois Humanities as a “Road Scholar.” My book is available at via Argus House Press.