| LITERARY ARTIST |
I was a serious little kid. While most kids frolicked in sunshine and clear skies, I frolicked in books and conversations. So much so that my mom constantly shooed me away for trying to be in “grown folks’ business.”
Fast forward a few decades and I still delight in words and conversations…
NEWS & MAGAZINE WRITING
As a journalist and essayist, I pen essays and articles about important issues of our time: racial healing, creativity, and faith. I discuss how they intersect with each other and how they affect culture. I’ve worked as a contributing writer for The Root, The Washington Post, Faithfully Magazine, L.A. Parent, and LA Weekly. Other publications include Christianity Today, The Huffington Post, The Los Angeles Times, EBONY, Good Housekeeping, Parents Magazine, Marie Claire, TheGrio, and News One.
I believe that our words can and should produce change. My article “How Natural Black Hair at Work Became a Civil Rights Issue” published in JSTOR Daily, provided a comprehensive history of anti-natural Black hair laws in the U.S. The trailblazing article has been cited in law journals and legal cases for the Virginia Law Review, Harvard Journal of Law & Gender, and the ACLU of Connecticut. It is a trusted resource for teachers and social justice organizations throughout the country.
My favorite journalism project was working as a U.S. 2022-2023 Rosalynn Carter Mental Health Journalism Fellow. Through the fellowship I partnered with Vogue.com to produce a three-part series that showed how alopecia diagnoses affect the mental health of Black women in the U.S. You can check out that series here, here, & here.
BOOK WRITING
The California Arts Council generously awarded me a fellowship in support of my first solo book, Loving Your Black Neighbor as Yourself: A Guide to Closing the Space Between Us, published by WaterBrook & Multnomah (Penguin Random House). (I also ghostwrite books, whose names I can’t disclose!)
COACHING WRITERS
I support emerging and established writers in three ways. 1. I lead a private small-group writing circle to help writers complete & sell their first books. (Email me for more deets.) 2. I co-lead Spirit & Scribe, an online workshop that explores the intersection of writing craft and spiritual formation. 3. I coach writers through the PAX Fellowship. If you need help on your writing journey, then I may be your gal!