Author: treasureshieldsredmond

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

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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...

Intimate Partner Violence as an Issue of Workplace Diversity

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It wasn’t this picture that fell out of the dead man’s pocket, but it was one very much like it. When I was in the first grade, a friend of my mother’s boyfriend, a man who had sat at our table and had eaten in our home, murdered his girlfriend and then committed suicide. My […]

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

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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...

When Your Colleagues Just Don’t Get Diversity & Inclusion

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Your company, or your school, or your non-profit claims they are “committed to diversity,” but by the look of things you can’t tell.  And the truth is, the “Strategic Plan” seems to be to talk about diversity until it’s time to revisit the strategic plan. Or even worse, your colleagues thinking...

No, People of Color are Not Here to “Spice Things Up”

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In the days after the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, I posted the following on Facebook: “I wake up to a world where a black led group I was a part of told the white governor to his face: we don’t trust you. I wake up to a black president who delegated a […]

An Open Letter to the Dear Sugar Podcast or “If it’s white, say so”

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Dear Sugar, I’m writing you because I love your podcast. You’ve created a place in the auralsphere where the big themes – betrayal, parentage, love — are met with measured, loving consideration and made shatteringly personal. Every week I get to hear some shard of myself speak and be acknow...

“Happy” Slaves, Presidential “Mistresses” & the Language of Race

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There is no neighborhood in New York city named after a president’s mistress. But there could be. In a world where a major publisher would have to be pressured into taking a book that depicts happy slaves baking treats for their owner, (who happens to be George Washington), the naming of an est...

Ferguson and Whiteness

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After the tragic killing of 20 young children and seven adults (including the killer’s mother) in Sandy Hook, Connecticut at Newtown Elementary, a group decided to create T-shirts emblazoned with the logo “Newtown Strong.” One can be certain that the idea arose as a show of solidarity and s...

The FEMININE PRONOUN Series #9: Act Local; Think Global

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In this episode I Skype into a classroom of gifted students at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri.  I also support local businesses like Smiles by Design and Human Spaces and Afrosexology.  Along the way I manage to mother my magical brown babies and meet with the bad ass women in my comics...

The FEMININE PRONOUN Series: “Inaugural Episode”

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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.  ...