It was doomed from the start The photo above is of me and Ms. Elizabeth Eckford in 2024.   Ms. Eckford was once the teen whose photo below is rumored to have made James Baldwin return from France. You likely know the photo, because like the image of the protestors at lunch counters having sugar...

Yesterday I found myself weeping in my African American Women’s literature course. I am not ashamed. Although I cannot recall a time that I’ve wept in the classroom before, as a poet who performs embodied work about which I feel very deeply, it was not surprising to me that the tears fell. We are...

But you will be. Like one of their primary artistic ancestors, Sun Ra, the No Tears Project has lived through the worst this country has to offer and managed to alchemize it into art that is both ancient and fresh.  The album— Humanitics —  digs (via a tight offering of eight tracks) back in...

In her poem, “13 Ways of Looking at a Black Girl,” Morgan Parker recounts — in an almost propulsive series of eruptions — images associated with black girls. The poem begins with the phrase “at risk,“ and ends with the word “lost.“ Parker names two enslaved ancestors — Sally Hem...

**For Immediate Release** **Dr. Treasure Shields Redmond Appointed as SIUE Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow** **[Edwardsville, Illinois] – [June 17, 2024]** – Dr. Treasure Shields Redmond, an esteemed poet, professor, and community arts organizer, has been appointed as the SIUE Chancellor�...

DM me to be added to the list. Pass this on to any East Side (Southern Illinois) based creatives you know!

This is the Re: Born Poetry reading series – @reborn.poetry.stl – on Cherokee Street! (2635 Cherokee Street, St. Louis, MO 63118) Looking for a cute Valentine’s “I-didn’t-forget!-See,-I-was-planning-this-all-along” date? Will you BE THERE? Join me for poems, dranks, and some of Cherok...

Wishing all of you a great Black History Month! I’ve already led a poetry workshop that was very special. If you look in the background of the photo below, you will see the poet Jericho Brown. I taught his poem “The Tradition” as part of an introduction to poetry workshop for YourWords STL. J...

My heart was full today because this was the first year BOTH of my children were at a maturity level where BOTH their gifts were individually purchased and I could tell BOTH had put real thought into their gifts. My daughter bought me this: Medieval Traditional Initial Alphabet Wax Seal Stamp and...