HerStory

My writer’s fascination with words began at an early age.  Like many of their generation, my parents descended from people who were denied the opportunity to read and write. Some of my ancestors were among those legally threatened with bodily harm if they were caught reading or writing.  Others were illiterate carrying papers they could not read which documented their freedom but did not guarantee their safety. My parents encouraged  me to spell and read aloud believing that these skills would help me survive in a literate white world.

In the late 1940’s, when Pittsburgh was still a steel town, I was rewarded for those A’s on report cards. B’s were tolerated, but only with a promise to “do better next time”.  C’s were unacceptable. My parents were committed to the notion that literacy was the ticket out of poverty and a way to navigate the rough road of racism. My father, in particular, was wedded to the idea that the social menace of white supremacy need not prevent one from living a full and worthwhile life.   Early morning breakfast readings and diner table discussions led by him were commonplace.  So also were the unspoken silences of my mother, pauses between stories, spelling games and teasing non-verbal cues, the body language at which she excelled. They too spoke to me. In either case language was important. 

We played SCRABBLE as a family and listened to Langston Hughes’ Jesse B Semple stories on the radio.  We laughed together reading Simple Speaks His Mind and  Simple Takes A Wife.

These were games we played.  They taught me that words can make people laugh or cry. Raised in a family of faith, the biblical claim that the “word became flesh and dwelt among them’ reminded me that embodied speech has the ability to create. Using it can be empowering. I learned to impress my family with what I was able to express.  Solitary and otherwise shy, using words, written and spoken aloud, became my way of getting attention and being a part of the group. I wanted to become the words I spoke.

While I’ve always been a wordy woman, today I want to be a woman of my word.  This is my truth.

Education

• AA Stephens College, Columbia, MO 1964
• BA Howard University, Washington, DC 1966
• MA University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 1974
• M Div Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Pittsburgh, PA 1978

Honors

• Phi Beta Kappa, Cum Laude, Dobroe Slovo Howard University 1966
• NDEA Fellowship University of Pittsburgh, 1966
• Homiletics Prize Pittsburgh Theological Seminary 1978
• Merrill Fellow, School of Divinity,  Harvard University 1990
• Individual Artist Grant, Frederick Arts Council 2022

Memberships

•  Minister Member, National Capital Preceptory, Washington D.C. 1980-2004, Honorably Retired
• Screen Actors Guild of America 2002-2022
• American Federation of Television and Radio Artists 2010-2022
• African American Resource and Cultural Heritage (AARCH)  Society, Frederick Md
• Friends of Waterford Park (FWP) Frederick, Md
• Downtown YMCA of Frederick County
• Phi Beta Kappa, Washington DC Chapter
• Maryland Writer’s Association, Frederick County Chapter
• Nottaway Indian Tribe of Virginia