ABOUT

Black bodies rocking against splintered wood in the hull of a slave ship. Sharks follow at a hungry distance. A trail of blood in the water links Africa and the Americas. Haunted by these images, I began a multi-year multimedia project to find my ancestors at the bottom of the ocean.

But there’s just one thing – I can’t swim.

I couldn’t swim when I began what would become Return of the Black Madonna and Water in My Bones. The feature documentary film and memoir are currently in production. Both projects follow me as I restore my ancestral relationship with the ocean, diving deep into the Atlantic to map sunken slave ships.

With a team of Black maritime archeologists, I reclaim lost history while discovering the strength of my own (Black) body – one scarred by traumas that are both recent and centuries-old.

Transforming Pain Into Purpose

I use the shame and trauma I have of swimming and open water to produce art and share stories that create healing art and spaces for Black families.

Specifically, I am an award-winning writer and independent filmmaker. I specialize in using personal narrative and non-fiction storytelling to spark and drive conversations about the urgent issues of our time. For more than 25 years, I have harnessed the power of storytelling to inform, engage, and motivate audiences.

CNN named my articles about Aretha Franklin’s legacy to Black women, and Beyonce and Janelle Monae’s reshaping of modern feminism among the year’s best. CNN Español translated my popular article about the film adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time.

My newspaper series about the impact of U.S. immigration on small, Mexican towns and cities won the New York Times Award for Outstanding Journalism. I documented how a local hospital in the Transkei navigated the HIV/AIDS crisis in post-apartheid South Africa. My reporting on the effects of a $1 billion state budget shortfall on poor mountain communities in western North Carolina won a Best of Gannett award. Finally, I served on investigative reporting teams that uncovered systemic abuse in North Carolina’s juvenile prisons.

You can see my portfolio of written work here.

Soul Food for Thought

I call my body of work “soul food for thought.”

My perfect world is a dinner party. People from all walks of life, race, religion, gender fluidity, ethnicity, and age sit together and break bread. We engage in transformational conversations about race, family, identity, art, literature, travel, music, and joy. We savor the most tantalizing dishes from all over the world and use gastronomy to learn more about the hands that prepared it.

This website is a buffet of the ongoing conversations that intrigue me.

These conversations are more than a “hot take” of the news of the week. They combine research, analysis, and social history to provide a unique perspective on current affairs. If we understand how the past affects the present, we can make informed, intelligent, and compassionate decisions to co-create a better future for everyone.

All articles are written by me unless otherwise indicated. Some pieces are reprinted from news outlets and digital lifestyle magazines to which I have contributed. Other posts are written especially for this site.

Now Serving

Race, family, identity, community, and restorative practices are the ingredients for soul food for thought for some of the “dishes” (projects) I’m currently cooking. These film and literary projects include:

RETURN OF THE BLACK MADONNA is a full-length feature documentary in early production I am co-directing and co-producing that chronicles my epic quest to learn to swim, dive, and map sunken slave ships with a group of black archeologists.

Water in My Bones is a memoir examining the impact of race, family, and fear on my identity as a black woman. I grapple with what it means to be a single, middle-aged, black woman facing isolation and loneliness while learning to swim, dive, and map sunken slave ships.

DETROIT RISING: HOW THE MOTOR CITY BECAME A RESTORATIVE CITY is a five-part docuseries I produced, wrote, and served as the primary protagonist. The docuseries follows me as we dive beneath the headlines of Detroit as a violent, decaying city to uncover a rich tapestry of grassroots leaders who are spearheading efforts to repair harm, restore relationships, and build social capital at a time of racial reckoning in the United States.

The docuseries was called “illuminating” by The Mercury News and won Best Web Series at Cyrus International Film Festival. It received Special Mention in the Best Documentary category at Venice Shorts Film Festival and the “Audience Choice” award at the New Hope Film Festiva. Detroit Rising also earned Special Mention (Best Documentary) in Venice Shorts Film Festival’s monthly competition. It is available for rent now at Vimeo.

Restorative Communities: From Conflict to Conversation is my upcoming book, chronicling my exploration of restorative practices at work in real-life settings in Detroit and Kortrijk, Belgium. These models of participatory learning and decision-making can help “build a new reality”, one in which ordinary citizens have more voice, more choice, and a shared responsibility for the health and success of their communities.

What I Bring to the Table

In my former life, I was a journalist and political communications strategist.

For example, I deployed SMS (text) technology to encourage Black college students to vote in 2008. In addition, I created an award-winning docuseries that charted Black-led efforts to implement restorative justice in nearly every city sector.

As a communications consultant, I developed events and content marketing strategies to help a global, mission-driven nonprofit build brand awareness and grow its membership in the United States and the Netherlands.

In addition, I wrote and produced a newsletter to aid an entrepreneurship nonprofit that highlighted organizational programs and services that helped companies start and grow; business owners turn barriers of race and gender into opportunity; companies diversify their supply chains, and communities broaden their business base.

In 2016, I moved to a small beach community in the Mexican Caribbean where I have contributed cultural commentary and food and travel writing to CNN, Panorama: The Intelligent Journal of Travel, Stranger’s Guide, Eat Your World, New Worlder, and Sweatpants & Coffee. I have been featured in Ebony, The Times of Israel, and Now Magazine.

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