WRITERS AND ARTISTS BIOGRAPHIES
S. E. Anderson is an activist-teacher-writer native of Brooklyn’s Bed-Stuy. He was for five years, the Education Director at Medgar Evers College’s Center for Law & Social Justice and has taught at several colleges and universities. Anderson wrote The Black Holocaust for Beginners and, with Tony Medina, edited In Defense of Mumia (Writers & Readers). He co-edited and published with Ted Wilson and the late Louis Rivera a tribute to Amiri Baraka: Let Loose On The World. He is currently editing The Reparations Now! Reader and writing two more For Beginners Books: Slavery For Beginners and Race For Beginners.
Hzal Anubewei (Anthony Fudge) was born in Cleveland, Ohio and currently resides in Lithonia, GA. He has performed original works at Karamu, Albany State College (writer-in-residence) , Cleveland State, and Howard University. Appeared on WKYC TV, and radio stations WABQ and WRFG in the Cleveland and Atlanta areas. His works have been published in Freelance, Cleveland Area Arts Council Anthology. He most recently read at African American Arts & Heritage Academy, Poetry Kitchen, Lovers of Poetry Day Ansted W. Virginia. His writings include Seso the Prophet; Pouring Shade; A Scheme in Every Scene and Muntu Poets Anthology 47.
The poet known as Shah BlacQ (Shaman Marbury) was raised on the west side of Detroit and started writing at a young age about growing up in the inner city. In 2008 he got on stage for the first time and Shah Blacq was born. In 2009 and ‘10 he helped develop and host two open mic shows, came out with a poetry album called Blacq InQ Spills and competes in slam poetry competitions across the country. His podcast “A Toast with Shah Blacq” is available on most podcast platforms. Currently he is developing an open mic workshop focused on cultivating young writers.
Roscoe "Ros" Crenshaw is a photographer, poet, journalist, editor, teacher, manual graphic artist, Jazz analyst, and board member of the Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club. He has photographed scores of renowned Jazz and visual artists, as well as countless community, political and other prominent figures; and written reviews of CDs and articles for weekly newspapers and poems for Drumvoices Revue, the EBRWC anthology. He won two national awards from the National Newspaper Publishers Association for editorial cartoons (1st and 3rd place). He is also a multi- tasking volunteer for Community Women Against Hardship, Inc. in St. Louis, MO.
Patrick Duncan was born and raised in Sylvester, Georgia, a close- knit community nestled in the heart of Southwest Georgia. He began writing poetry when he was 13 years old. With time and experience Duncan learned that words have the power to construct or destruct. He made an unrelenting commitment to use words wisely. Duncan recently released his debut poetry CD, titled What's Going On. You can visit his website at patricksduncan.com.
Gwen Russell Green is a freelance writer, and an educational consultant. She is the CEO of her company, Green Ideas, Inc. Her signature event, the Creative Collaboration in the Southeast, allows her to commission and pay writers, visual artists, musicians, and dancers. She has self -published two volumes of poetry, From the Edges, and Another beside Adam. Her work has appeared in several newspapers and magazines as well as in the Reach of Song poetry anthology published by the Georgia Poetry Society.
Sam Grisham, born January 28, 1954 in Muskegon, MI, is kin to the baby boomer generation that emerged from the ashes of world war. Her style is color intense and reminiscent of the hippie era of her youth. Sam worked in corporate America in non-art related positions for almost 30 years. After retirement, she pursued art studies at SCAD Atlanta and was the recipient of SCAD Artistic Honors, Amos Glenda Knight Keys and Joel C. Reeves scholarships for painting. She has participated in numerous group exhibits in Atlanta area galleries including Mason Fine Art, Arts Exchange, Southwest Arts Atlanta, Arts Clayton and deFine Art.
Brandon L. Hankins is a comics creator and ink painter from Detroit, currently living in East Lansing, Michigan. He focuses on telling action-packed and meaningful fantasy stories, intent on affecting people positively and profoundly. A student of the Japanese art of ink painting, or sumi-e, Brandon strives to infuse every stroke of his brush with life, energy, and honesty. His work includes the fantasy webcomic, Crown of Fire, and the deeply personal adventure comic, Heart-Peace. Currently, he’s working on a new webcomic, Autumn Wing and the Crown of Fire. You can find his work at brandonlionhearted.com.
Rashidah Ismaili, originally from Dahomey (Benin) now a four-decade long resident of Harlem where she hosts Salon d'Afrique; a creative intergenerational and interfaith meeting place. Was active in the Black Arts Movement, Umbra, and in the John Oliver Killens Writers Workshop. Has taught at several colleges and universities. Currently teaches in the Creative Writing MA/MFA Poetry and Memoir department at Wilkes University. Is a founding member of (OWWA) Organisation of Women Writers of Africa and PEN, and Pen and Brush. Featured in The New Daughters of Africa, ed. Margaret Busby. Has participated in international arts festival in Africa, and South America.
Janice Liddell, Ph.D. retired as Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs and Coordinator of Faculty Development at Atlanta Metropolitan College after serving in several capacities at Clark Atlanta University for nearly 35 years. She is the author of a children’s book and co-editor of a collection of literary criticism; she is also author of several published articles, poems and several plays produced nationally and internationally. Liddell is a wife, mother and grandmother and resides in Atlanta GA.
Charlois Lumpkin, aka Mali Newman, is a native of St. Louis, Missouri and a member of the Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club and its performance troupe, the Soular Systems Ensemble. Her work has appeared in Drumvoices Revue, Valley Voices, Crossing the Divide and the Hoot and Holler of the Owls, an anthology published by the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Foundation. Awards include a 2010/2011 E. Desmond Lee Playwright Competition winner.
Tamara J. Madison is an author, poet, editor, and instructor. Her critical and creative works have been recorded, produced, and published in various journals, magazines, exhibits, podcasts, and anthologies. Her most recent poetry collection Threed, This Road Not Damascus was published by Trio House Press. Tamara has performed and recorded her work for stage, television, and studio. She enjoys facilitating creative writing and expressions workshops for both youths and adults. She currently lives in Orlando where she teaches as a professor of English and Creative Writing at Valencia College.
Eric Maxie is a native of Chicago, Illinois. He lives, works and writes in Atlanta, Georgia. He has published two volumes of Poetry and numerous independent poems. He is a spoken word artist and has produced several live performances in support of independent artists.
Bob McNeil was influenced by the Imagists and the Negritude Movement. Furthermore, after years of being a professional illustrator, spoken word artist, and writer, he still hopes to express and address the needs of the human mosaic.
David Mills holds an MFA from Warren Wilson College. He is the author of two poetry collections, the second, The Sudden Country, was a book-prize finalist. He has received fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts and Breadloaf. His poems have appeared in Black Renaissance Noire, Ploughshares, Callaloo and Crab Orchard Review. He has also recorded his poetry on RCA Records and had a play produced by the Juilliard School of Drama. He lived as writer-in-residence in Langston Hughes’ landmark home.
Adwowa Minus 24 years young was born in West Philadelphia and raised in Atlanta Georgia. Acquired studies at Georgia Piedmont for two years. Adwowa Minus began exploring spoken word and poetry at 13 during her time in rites of passage; an organization that brought African American teens together to obtain knowledge about the steps of becoming a woman and what it means to be a young woman. Since then Adwowa’s love for poetry has flourished. She is looking to publish her book "Summon the Serpent" this year and has a website titled “The Builder” where her poetry can be found.
Eugene B. Redmond (Poet Laureate of East St. Louis) combines “Arkansippi” basics with training at Lincoln High School (Miles Davis’ alma mater) and elsewhere. Credits: professorships (Oberlin College, Cal State U-Sacramento), books (The Eye in the Ceiling, Arkansippi Memwars), fellowships (NEA), journals (Drumvoices Revue), a Pushcart Prize, and two American Book Awards. In 2015, Southern Illinois U-Edwardsville opened the Eugene B. Redmond Collection & Learning Center.
Email: [email protected]; Website: www.siue/ENGLISH/dvr/
Darlene Roy, an East St. Louis, IL native, is co-founder and president of the Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club, associate editor of Drumvoices Revue. Roy has performed on radio, television, and throughout the United States. Her poetry has appeared in St. Louis Muse, Literati Chicago, Valley Voices and other publications; in her chapbook, Soon One Morning and other Poems and book, Afrosynthesis: A Feast of Poetry & Folklore.
Segun Shabaka, Ph.D. currently chairperson of the New York Chapter of the National Association of Kawaida Organizations (NAKO), National Chair is scholar/activist Dr. Maulana Karenga. He is chair and coordinator of the International African Arts Festival (www.iaafestival.org, going into its 50th year. Additionally, he is on the board of the International Black Women’s Congress. He operates a cultural consultant and travel business, Pyramid Productions (www.pyramidproductionsnyc.com).
Beginning as a volunteer in 1970, Shabaka went on to work at the East Cultural and Educational Center, and Uhuru Sasa Shule (Freedom Now School) as well the East Organization’s Executive Director.
Michael Simanga, Ph.D. is an activist writer, multi-discipline artist, scholar and educator. He is a scholar and educator in Africana Studies and his research interests include 20th century Black radical movements, Civil Rights, Black Power and Pan-Africanism, art and culture as expressions of identity, resistance and transformation. He writes and lectures on Civil Rights/Black Power and Politics, African American and African Diaspora art, culture, politics and history, human rights and justice. As an artist and cultural worker, he has produced more than 200 artistic projects and is the former Executive Director of the National Black Arts Festival.
Jaye P. Willis is a poet and spoken word artist and a member of the Eugene B. Redmond Writer's Club in East St. Louis, IL. Her poetry has been published in Drumvoices Revue vol.17, Crossing the Divide, and Valley Voices, A Literary Review, vol. 8 Spring 2018. She writes in numerous poetic forms, including tankas, couplets, haiku and kwansabas. Willis is married and has two grown children, Lauren and Jered.
Ted L. Wilson (Olumide), born and raised in Harlem is a writer, producer and promoter and publisher of two books of poetry, Slo Dance and Senses and Shadows and a memoir, Kinda Blue, Memories of a Harlem Ivy League Teenager. He published Let Loose on the World, Celebrating Amiri Baraka at 75 with associate publisher, SE Anderson. He has been a cultural worker since the 1960's in the Black Liberation/human rights movement His writings have appeared in many journals including: The Black Nation and several anthologies including Black Fire, Anthology of Afro American Writing ed L. Jones and L. Neal.
S. E. Anderson is an activist-teacher-writer native of Brooklyn’s Bed-Stuy. He was for five years, the Education Director at Medgar Evers College’s Center for Law & Social Justice and has taught at several colleges and universities. Anderson wrote The Black Holocaust for Beginners and, with Tony Medina, edited In Defense of Mumia (Writers & Readers). He co-edited and published with Ted Wilson and the late Louis Rivera a tribute to Amiri Baraka: Let Loose On The World. He is currently editing The Reparations Now! Reader and writing two more For Beginners Books: Slavery For Beginners and Race For Beginners.
Hzal Anubewei (Anthony Fudge) was born in Cleveland, Ohio and currently resides in Lithonia, GA. He has performed original works at Karamu, Albany State College (writer-in-residence) , Cleveland State, and Howard University. Appeared on WKYC TV, and radio stations WABQ and WRFG in the Cleveland and Atlanta areas. His works have been published in Freelance, Cleveland Area Arts Council Anthology. He most recently read at African American Arts & Heritage Academy, Poetry Kitchen, Lovers of Poetry Day Ansted W. Virginia. His writings include Seso the Prophet; Pouring Shade; A Scheme in Every Scene and Muntu Poets Anthology 47.
The poet known as Shah BlacQ (Shaman Marbury) was raised on the west side of Detroit and started writing at a young age about growing up in the inner city. In 2008 he got on stage for the first time and Shah Blacq was born. In 2009 and ‘10 he helped develop and host two open mic shows, came out with a poetry album called Blacq InQ Spills and competes in slam poetry competitions across the country. His podcast “A Toast with Shah Blacq” is available on most podcast platforms. Currently he is developing an open mic workshop focused on cultivating young writers.
Roscoe "Ros" Crenshaw is a photographer, poet, journalist, editor, teacher, manual graphic artist, Jazz analyst, and board member of the Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club. He has photographed scores of renowned Jazz and visual artists, as well as countless community, political and other prominent figures; and written reviews of CDs and articles for weekly newspapers and poems for Drumvoices Revue, the EBRWC anthology. He won two national awards from the National Newspaper Publishers Association for editorial cartoons (1st and 3rd place). He is also a multi- tasking volunteer for Community Women Against Hardship, Inc. in St. Louis, MO.
Patrick Duncan was born and raised in Sylvester, Georgia, a close- knit community nestled in the heart of Southwest Georgia. He began writing poetry when he was 13 years old. With time and experience Duncan learned that words have the power to construct or destruct. He made an unrelenting commitment to use words wisely. Duncan recently released his debut poetry CD, titled What's Going On. You can visit his website at patricksduncan.com.
Gwen Russell Green is a freelance writer, and an educational consultant. She is the CEO of her company, Green Ideas, Inc. Her signature event, the Creative Collaboration in the Southeast, allows her to commission and pay writers, visual artists, musicians, and dancers. She has self -published two volumes of poetry, From the Edges, and Another beside Adam. Her work has appeared in several newspapers and magazines as well as in the Reach of Song poetry anthology published by the Georgia Poetry Society.
Sam Grisham, born January 28, 1954 in Muskegon, MI, is kin to the baby boomer generation that emerged from the ashes of world war. Her style is color intense and reminiscent of the hippie era of her youth. Sam worked in corporate America in non-art related positions for almost 30 years. After retirement, she pursued art studies at SCAD Atlanta and was the recipient of SCAD Artistic Honors, Amos Glenda Knight Keys and Joel C. Reeves scholarships for painting. She has participated in numerous group exhibits in Atlanta area galleries including Mason Fine Art, Arts Exchange, Southwest Arts Atlanta, Arts Clayton and deFine Art.
Brandon L. Hankins is a comics creator and ink painter from Detroit, currently living in East Lansing, Michigan. He focuses on telling action-packed and meaningful fantasy stories, intent on affecting people positively and profoundly. A student of the Japanese art of ink painting, or sumi-e, Brandon strives to infuse every stroke of his brush with life, energy, and honesty. His work includes the fantasy webcomic, Crown of Fire, and the deeply personal adventure comic, Heart-Peace. Currently, he’s working on a new webcomic, Autumn Wing and the Crown of Fire. You can find his work at brandonlionhearted.com.
Rashidah Ismaili, originally from Dahomey (Benin) now a four-decade long resident of Harlem where she hosts Salon d'Afrique; a creative intergenerational and interfaith meeting place. Was active in the Black Arts Movement, Umbra, and in the John Oliver Killens Writers Workshop. Has taught at several colleges and universities. Currently teaches in the Creative Writing MA/MFA Poetry and Memoir department at Wilkes University. Is a founding member of (OWWA) Organisation of Women Writers of Africa and PEN, and Pen and Brush. Featured in The New Daughters of Africa, ed. Margaret Busby. Has participated in international arts festival in Africa, and South America.
Janice Liddell, Ph.D. retired as Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs and Coordinator of Faculty Development at Atlanta Metropolitan College after serving in several capacities at Clark Atlanta University for nearly 35 years. She is the author of a children’s book and co-editor of a collection of literary criticism; she is also author of several published articles, poems and several plays produced nationally and internationally. Liddell is a wife, mother and grandmother and resides in Atlanta GA.
Charlois Lumpkin, aka Mali Newman, is a native of St. Louis, Missouri and a member of the Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club and its performance troupe, the Soular Systems Ensemble. Her work has appeared in Drumvoices Revue, Valley Voices, Crossing the Divide and the Hoot and Holler of the Owls, an anthology published by the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Foundation. Awards include a 2010/2011 E. Desmond Lee Playwright Competition winner.
Tamara J. Madison is an author, poet, editor, and instructor. Her critical and creative works have been recorded, produced, and published in various journals, magazines, exhibits, podcasts, and anthologies. Her most recent poetry collection Threed, This Road Not Damascus was published by Trio House Press. Tamara has performed and recorded her work for stage, television, and studio. She enjoys facilitating creative writing and expressions workshops for both youths and adults. She currently lives in Orlando where she teaches as a professor of English and Creative Writing at Valencia College.
Eric Maxie is a native of Chicago, Illinois. He lives, works and writes in Atlanta, Georgia. He has published two volumes of Poetry and numerous independent poems. He is a spoken word artist and has produced several live performances in support of independent artists.
Bob McNeil was influenced by the Imagists and the Negritude Movement. Furthermore, after years of being a professional illustrator, spoken word artist, and writer, he still hopes to express and address the needs of the human mosaic.
David Mills holds an MFA from Warren Wilson College. He is the author of two poetry collections, the second, The Sudden Country, was a book-prize finalist. He has received fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts and Breadloaf. His poems have appeared in Black Renaissance Noire, Ploughshares, Callaloo and Crab Orchard Review. He has also recorded his poetry on RCA Records and had a play produced by the Juilliard School of Drama. He lived as writer-in-residence in Langston Hughes’ landmark home.
Adwowa Minus 24 years young was born in West Philadelphia and raised in Atlanta Georgia. Acquired studies at Georgia Piedmont for two years. Adwowa Minus began exploring spoken word and poetry at 13 during her time in rites of passage; an organization that brought African American teens together to obtain knowledge about the steps of becoming a woman and what it means to be a young woman. Since then Adwowa’s love for poetry has flourished. She is looking to publish her book "Summon the Serpent" this year and has a website titled “The Builder” where her poetry can be found.
Eugene B. Redmond (Poet Laureate of East St. Louis) combines “Arkansippi” basics with training at Lincoln High School (Miles Davis’ alma mater) and elsewhere. Credits: professorships (Oberlin College, Cal State U-Sacramento), books (The Eye in the Ceiling, Arkansippi Memwars), fellowships (NEA), journals (Drumvoices Revue), a Pushcart Prize, and two American Book Awards. In 2015, Southern Illinois U-Edwardsville opened the Eugene B. Redmond Collection & Learning Center.
Email: [email protected]; Website: www.siue/ENGLISH/dvr/
Darlene Roy, an East St. Louis, IL native, is co-founder and president of the Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club, associate editor of Drumvoices Revue. Roy has performed on radio, television, and throughout the United States. Her poetry has appeared in St. Louis Muse, Literati Chicago, Valley Voices and other publications; in her chapbook, Soon One Morning and other Poems and book, Afrosynthesis: A Feast of Poetry & Folklore.
Segun Shabaka, Ph.D. currently chairperson of the New York Chapter of the National Association of Kawaida Organizations (NAKO), National Chair is scholar/activist Dr. Maulana Karenga. He is chair and coordinator of the International African Arts Festival (www.iaafestival.org, going into its 50th year. Additionally, he is on the board of the International Black Women’s Congress. He operates a cultural consultant and travel business, Pyramid Productions (www.pyramidproductionsnyc.com).
Beginning as a volunteer in 1970, Shabaka went on to work at the East Cultural and Educational Center, and Uhuru Sasa Shule (Freedom Now School) as well the East Organization’s Executive Director.
Michael Simanga, Ph.D. is an activist writer, multi-discipline artist, scholar and educator. He is a scholar and educator in Africana Studies and his research interests include 20th century Black radical movements, Civil Rights, Black Power and Pan-Africanism, art and culture as expressions of identity, resistance and transformation. He writes and lectures on Civil Rights/Black Power and Politics, African American and African Diaspora art, culture, politics and history, human rights and justice. As an artist and cultural worker, he has produced more than 200 artistic projects and is the former Executive Director of the National Black Arts Festival.
Jaye P. Willis is a poet and spoken word artist and a member of the Eugene B. Redmond Writer's Club in East St. Louis, IL. Her poetry has been published in Drumvoices Revue vol.17, Crossing the Divide, and Valley Voices, A Literary Review, vol. 8 Spring 2018. She writes in numerous poetic forms, including tankas, couplets, haiku and kwansabas. Willis is married and has two grown children, Lauren and Jered.
Ted L. Wilson (Olumide), born and raised in Harlem is a writer, producer and promoter and publisher of two books of poetry, Slo Dance and Senses and Shadows and a memoir, Kinda Blue, Memories of a Harlem Ivy League Teenager. He published Let Loose on the World, Celebrating Amiri Baraka at 75 with associate publisher, SE Anderson. He has been a cultural worker since the 1960's in the Black Liberation/human rights movement His writings have appeared in many journals including: The Black Nation and several anthologies including Black Fire, Anthology of Afro American Writing ed L. Jones and L. Neal.