EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY LAW CENTER, Washington, D.C.
Juris Doctor, 1995 (Member of the D.C. Bar)

HOWARD UNIVERSITY, Washington, D.C.
Bachelor of Business Administration – Accounting, 1992

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP

PEN/FAULKNER FOUNDATION, Washington, DC

Board Member

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS, Washington, DC

Member
PUBLICATIONS

BOOKS

On Our Way To Beautiful, Random House, 2002

Shaking The Tree, An Anthology of Black Women Writers, 2005 (Contributor)

SELECTED COMMENTARY, ESSAYS, & REVIEWS

“Gangsta Lit Poisons Black Audiences. ” USA Today, July 6, 2006.

“Blacks Must Nurture Cultural Centers.” USA Today, December 23, 2005.

“A Call to Rebuild New Orleans.” NPR’s News & Notes, September 20, 2005.

“Blacks Suffer Economic Crackup.” USA Today, December 17, 2004.

“Platitudes.” Black Issues Book Review, September 2003.

“Michael, Wayne, Donny, Ray and Baby Jane.”  Essence Magazine, November, 1999.

FACULTY EXPERIENCE

Adjunct Professor, Department of English, Spring Semester 2003.

Montgomery College, Rockville, M.D.

Taught undergraduate courses in journalism, essay writing and argument.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

USA Today

Frequent Contributing Columnist, November 2003 to present.

Provide commentary on race, culture and politics.

National Newspaper Publishers Association

Columnist, January 1999 to May 2002.

Wrote a bi-weekly social and political column that was syndicated in over 200 black newspapers.

SELECTED WORKSHOPS CONDUCTED

Personal Essay Workshop, (8 hours) D.C. Adult Literacy.  June 2006.

Memoir Writing Workshop, D.C. Adult Literacy.  January 2006 to April 2006.

Personal Essay Workshop, The Writer’s Center, Bethesda, MD  Spring 2003.

PANELS, PRESENTATIONS, LECTURES

“The Role of the African American Writer,” Coastal Bend College, Beeville, TX, February 2003.

“Religious Themes in Memoirs,” Fordham University, Bronx, NY February 2003.

Guest Lecturer, Louisiana Book Festival, Baton Rouge, LA, November 2002.

“Memory and the Memoir,” Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, March 2003.

Guest Lecturer, Adelphi University, Garden City, NY, February 2003.

“The Resurrecting Power of the Human Spirit,” Oakwood College, Huntsville, AL, January 2002.

“Autobiography:  The African American Tradition,” Georgia Southwestern State University, October 2002.

Guest Lecturer, Dillard University, March 2001.

“Black Women Memoirists,” Louisiana State University, February 2001.

“Religious Themes in Memoirs,” South Carolina State University, Orangeburg, SC, September 2000.

“Memoir Writing,” Washington Independent Writers Conference, May 2000

Guest Lecturer, Elizabeth City State University, Elizabeth City, NC, October 2000.

“Memory and the Memoir,” Marian College, Indianapolis, IN.  September 2000.

AWARDS, GRANTS, HONORS

Emerging Artist

D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Washington, D.C., December 2002

Small Projects Grantee

DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Washington, DC, June 2000.

COMMUNITY SERVICE

2006 – Present – Book Club Sponsor, Cardozo High School, Washington, D.C.

2007 – Classroom Presentation. M.M. Washington, Washington, D.C.

2006 – Classroom Presentation. IDEA, Washington, D.C.

2006 – Classroom Presentation. Vernon Sewell of Francis Junior High, Washington, D.C.

2006 – Classroom Presentation. Cesar Chavez Public Charter School, Washington, D.C.

2006 – Classroom Presentation. SEED, Washington, D.C.

2003 – Classroom Presentation.  Huntington High School, Shreveport, LA.

2003 – Claude Brown Writers Series, Washington, D.C.

2002 – Classroom Presentation.  Fairmont Heights High School.  Hyattsville, MD.

2002 – Classroom Presentation.  Stoner Hill Elementary School, Shreveport, LA.

2002 – Classroom Presentation.  Broadmoor Junior High School, Shreveport, LA.

2002 – Classroom Presentation.  Captain Shreve High School, Shreveport, LA.

2002 – Classroom Presentation.  Benjamin Franklin High School, New Orleans.