Photo by Theresa Rosado
I am a writer and community organizer based in Lansing, Michigan, of Irish, Prussian/German, and Cherokee roots. Read more about my heritage later on this page. I am not a member of any state or federally recognized tribe, nor do I speak on their behalf.
In the past and present, hope has inspired me to break oppressive silences. Alliance across differences also inspires me: standing with others to enact equity and justice. This spiritual-practical commitment is embodied in public speech, artistic performance, and grassroots organizing. Overall, I view my artistic and community-oriented work through an educational lens — a learning-teaching endeavor for all participants, including myself.
My creative publications include “Echoes of Women” (2006), a collaborative chapbook; and “Blame It on Eve!” (2007), an e-book of poems on CD. With my forthcoming collection of poetry “Circle. . .Home” (release on September 10, 2011), I am launching a new small press, Femestiza, committed to publish projects from the heart. Portions of “Circle…Home” have been published on my website: “the land, once called DeWitt” (2009) and “Hope at the Center” (2010).
I received an Emerging Artist Grant in 2011 from the Arts Council of Greater Lansing, and the funds in part support the publication of “Circle. . .Home.” I have performed spoken word largely in the Greater Lansing Area, as well as during travels to Austin, Oklahoma City, Seattle, and the UK. I also have performed live on the radio program Michigan Storytelling. My creative and community work has been covered by Between the Lines, Greater Lansing Woman, Lansing City Pulse, Lansing Online News, and Lansing State Journal.
I organize literary programs that facilitate the exchange of life stories and frequently serve as awareness-raising events. I began The HerStories Project in 2010 as a grassroots program to celebrate stories about women, and in 2011 expanded events to celebrate gender. Some of my community partners have included the Center for Poetry (Michigan State University), the Michigan Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, and the Listening Ear Crisis Center.
My ancestors – Cherokee, Irish, Prussian – are rooted in the northern hemisphere, and I was raised on the homeland of the Anishinabeg in an European-named town DeWitt, Michigan, USA.
Of my grandparents, I best knew my mom’s mom Margaret. A Depression child who graduated college and married a dairy farmer, she became a full-time teacher after having four children. During retirement and widowhood, she volunteered in many organizations. Grandma always absorbed knowledge.
My mother Peggy was a high-school honor student and basketball player who first attended college while working full-time. She persevered the challenges of single-parenting willful kids and caring for her aging mother. I still learn from her strength, quiet firm manner, and great sense of humor.
My father Mill was a second-generation tool-and-dye man who loved playing trumpet and swimming. He inherited both his father’s charm and alcoholism. In his final years, he stopped drinking and mended some family fences. My love of words partly comes from him; he was a poet.
Updated August 20, 2011.
