Remembering Mary Ellen Pleasant

"The Mother of Civil Rights in California," Mary Ellen Pleasant, one of America's first Black female millionaires, made her fortune in the San Francisco area as a partner and consultant to Gold Rush enterprisers. In the 19th Century, racist conductors ejected Pleasant from her trolley car on two occasions for which she sued in landmark … Continue reading Remembering Mary Ellen Pleasant →

Have You Heard? Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga

Set in Rhodesia in the 1960's, Tsitsi Dangarembga's NERVOUS CONDITIONS (1988) is a classic novel enduring unto today for its memorable protagonist and strong statements about gender inequities of women, stolen educational access and resource gaps in a politically-charged nation.

Pulling Into History….

The Pullman Historic District neighborhood, a center of Chicago's progressive black middle and working class population in the 19th and 20th Centuries, declared a United States National Monument.

BlogHer Features My Piece on 10 Black Women to Read as part of #WeNeedDiverseBooks Movement

You may read my essay "10 Black Writers to Read Now" over at BlogHer if you haven't done so here. Thank you!

The Hollywood Reporter Addresses Black Stars’ Racial Abuses Through Life of Hattie McDaniel, the First Black Oscar Winner

In addition to recasting Hattie McDaniels for today's audiences as less of an easy-street heroine who won the first Oscar for Blacks and more of a lifelong victim of emotional abuse in Hollywood due to her color, any Millennials who love Hollywood but never knew Hattie can no longer say they were not told.

10 Black Women Writers To Read This Black History Month

These women came before Kindle, and forever changed opportunities available to Black women authors in America.

My Story IN 21 DAYS as part of Winter Tangerine Review’s “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” Project

Proud for the beautiful opportunity to be featured in this project published by Winter Tangerine Review. My story "In 21 Days" appears. I wrote the story to provide my energy to the reality of a disproportionate number of Black Americans who are sentenced to hard time or who await the death penalty.