Meet the Spoken Black Girl Issue 3: Diaspora Contributors
Erika DeShay "Black Lives Matter"
I am a high school English teacher who loves language. Hailing from St. Louis, MO, I've been living in Colorado for 20 years. My love of language, especially poetry, comes from the joy of reading Maya Angelou and Pablo Neruda. I have a wonderfully supportive partner who teaches math at a rival high school and a wonderfully handsome dog soulmate named Handsome.
Instagram @deshaywrites
Adrienne Prather " Hear our Ancestors Roar"
Adrienne Prather is an Atlanta native who enjoys writing and reciting poetry and is the author of Reflections of Love, an inspirational poetry book and Encouragement Cafe a self-help book to encourage and strengthen Educators. Prather's poem Dream on Dreamer was featured in Rolling Out Magazine. Her testimony was written in a book entitled, I've Got a Testimony. Also, Prather's poetry, Ruler of Everything was featured in the Rejoice Atlanta newspaper. In the lifestyle section of the Clayton Neighbor newspaper, Adrienne shared her gift of poetry with the world in an article written about her. Adrienne graduated from Atlanta Metropolitan College with an Associate of Arts Degree in Mass Communications and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism from Georgia State University. At Ashworth College, she received a Diploma in Writing Children's Books Program and proudly graduated with Honors. Encouraging and motivating others is what she is called to do.
Instagram: @tmialuv
Tsebiyah Derry "Earth is Home"
Tsebiyah Mishael Derry is a New York native singer, writer and AEA actor. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, where she studied devised and experimental theatre, history, literature & writing, she has performed on Broadway, off-Broadway, regionally and internationally. At 16 years old, Tsebiyah self-published a book of poetry grappling with her teenage-hood in the aftermath of losing her childhood home in a mortgage scam. Tsebiyah’s poem, “Beauty Shop Rock,” was recently published in the Pneumbra Arts & Literary Journal’s Penumbra Online website. She currently lives in Brooklyn, writing music and poetry, recording podcasts & acting on zoom. She is also a resident spoken word poet for a non-profit organization called The Real Life Co, focused on wellness and trauma recovery.
Instagram: @Tsebiyah
Donauta Watson " How to Drink Water from a Coconut Without a Straw"
Donauta is a Jamaican born writer, poet, artist and performer based in Brooklyn NY
She is an art and social justice advocate writing and creating within the divinity of self, social commentary, and the immigrant experience.
Instagram: @donatusstar
Sherese Francis, "How Can You See in the Dark? (EnTalechy of a Diasporic Misfit
Sherese Francis is a Queens-based, Afro-Caribbean-American (Barbados and Dominica) poet, editor, interdisciplinary artist, workshop facilitator, and literary curator of the mobile library project, J. Expressions. She has published work in various publications including Furious Flower, Obsidian Lit, Rootwork Journal, Spoken Black Girl, Harlequin Creature, The Operating System, Cosmonauts Avenue, No Dear, Apex Magazine, Bone Bouquet, African Voices, Newtown Literary, and Free Verse. Additionally, she has published two chapbooks, Lucy’s Bone Scrolls and Variations on Sett/ling Seed/ling, and has another one on the way from DoubleCross Press called, Recycling a Why That Rules Over My Sacred Sight. Besides her publications, she has had work featured in exhibitions from The Lit Exhibit, NY Live Arts, Queens Public Library and Baxter St Camera Club.
Angela Miskis "Inside my Lungs"
Angela Miskis (b. Ecuador, 1987) is an artist and community organizer based in Southeast Queens. Her work is influenced by her family upbringing, dedication to social service, and building a healthier and more sustainable future in her immediate community. Angela Miskis graduated from the School of Visual Arts in 2013 with a degree in Visual and Critical Studies. Her honors include the Silas H. Rhodes scholarship (2011), and the Visual and Critical Studies Scholarship (2013) which awarded her a five-month artist residency at the Leipzig International Art Programme (2014) in Germany. Recently, Miskis was awarded a residency at ChaShaMa's ChaNorth International Artists Program (2019) in Pine Plains, NY, and the ArtWorks Inc. Seminar Fellowship at the Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning (2020). She is currently a Create Change Fellow with the Laundromat Project in New York, and a Utopian Practice Fellow with Culture Pusher (2021.) Her writing has been published in WORDS-75 by Visual Arts Press (2012) and JAM JOURNAL's inaugural issue by J.Expressions (2020).
Instagram: @angelamiskis
Kristin Jere " The things that I love about wash day"
Kristen Jeré is a multi-disciplinary writer based in Chicago. She has worked in local newsrooms and artistic/social justice non-profit spaces across the city. Her interests revolve around womb healing, reproductive justice for biopic folks, and Black feminist theory. To manifest her passions, Kristen is currently working towards a career as a sexuality writer and doula with a focus in herbalism.
Elizabeth DeHaan "I Am a Child of the Diaspora"
Elizabeth DeHaan is the creator of enovaturient.com. Passionate about social change she uses her platform to inspire change and provide news that is not readily available. She has been a guest contributor for OMNoire, Black + Well, Wit + Grace Magazine, Travel Under the Radar, and several other online publications. She currently resides in Brooklyn, NY and loves to travel as much as possible in her spare time. Follow her at @e_novaturient.
Monifa Kincaid, “Her Black Body / She Still Hears Me / Acceptance”
Born in Manhattan, NY, Monifa’s artistic background began with training in classical ballet, contemporary dance and rhythm tap dance. She has performed with the National Tap Dance Orchestra led by Brenda Bufalino, with Barbara Duffy & Company, and at the Cotton Club in Harlem, NY led by Dormeisha Sumbry-Edwards. Monifa was also an arts educator with the NYC Department of Education from 2001 to 2018. Her visual artwork has been shown with s.KArtspace in Brooklyn, Akwaaba Gallery in Newark, NJ, Newark Arts Festival, Art-In-The-Atrium in Morristown, NJ and at the Main Street Arts in Clifton Springs, NY. She has been published in Root Work Journal and featured in Refresh Magazine and Plugged Media. She received an M.S. in Early Childhood Education from Lehman College, an M.A. in Choreography from the Laban Centre, London, UK and a B.F.A. in Contemporary Dance Performance from The University of the Arts in Phila., P.A.
Krystal Ann Camacho, “Dear Abuela”
Krystal Ann Camacho is an Afro-Boricua born and raised in New York City. She was raised by a single mother of six at Wald Housing Project in the Lower East Side. She know for her role in assisting people of colored communities obtain employment, adult education, and training. She holds a BA in Social Science/Psychology from Touro College. She has as passion in creative writing and supporting women of color business. She performed at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe and participated in Root Wounds Words Penning my piece workshop. Her social media account for Instagram is @krys_inspired and her blog is www.krysinspired.com
Eunice Brownlee, "Lost Heritage"
Eunice Brownlee has spent her career finding the balance between her left and right brains. She is a passionate writer and writes regularly about mental health, trauma, and abuse. She's also a solo mother, striving to raise a daughter who is strong and outspoken. Eunice has been published in The Kindred Voice, Motherscope and now, Spoken Black Girl. She is a regular contributor for The Mom Salon, a monthly Zine from Motherscope. Eunice’s current project is a book about the trauma of navigating the justice system as a victim of a crime. When she’s not doing any of the above, she can be found seeking her next passport stamp and drinking wine. Follow her on Instagram @eunicebrownlee
Rowana Abbensetts-Dobson, "Novel Excerpt: Departure Story"
Editor-in-Chief
Rowana Abbensetts-Dobson is a Guyanese-American writer, mental health advocate, and founder of Spoken Black Girl, a publishing & media company that promotes mental health and wellness among Black women & women of color by amplifying emerging voices. Rowana has had fiction and poetry published in Moko Magazine, Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora, Culture Push, Jam Journal, and Free Verse Magazine. As a freelance health and wellness writer, Rowana has written for Well +Good, Bold Culture by Streamline Media, The Tempest, and Electric Lit. Her debut novel “Departure Story” will be published on June 1 by Spoken Black Girl Publishing. Pre-Order Here.
Maholin Navarro, "The Venezuelan Diaspora"
Issue 3 Guest Editor
My name is Maholin Navarro. I am a Journalist and a Writer from Venezuela, currently based in Ireland since 8 years ago. I am passionate about writing and researching topics related to Black Women, especially everything linked to Black People from Latin America. I am a social activist interested in equality, LGBTQ+, racism, and xenophobia. I am constantly expressing my point of view through my writing, which is generally about social topics that are not so comfortable to talk about on a daily basis. My principal mission as a writer is to create that question mark; about topics that people normally think they have clear and understood. I want people to recognize that not everything is black and white but instead there's a lot of nuances. I have a previous writing background in Spanish language, writing theatre plays, and press including: TV, news papers, social media, and magazines. In 2020 Rowana Abbensetts launched me as a writer and in 2021 as Guest Editor in English for Spoken Black Girl New York, which has been a very enriching and powerful experience.
Social Media @mahohoji
Email: maholinnavarro1@gmail.com
Mari Corona, "Who is Responsible? The Race Cards are on the Table"
Hello, my name is Mari Corona and I am a Photographer and Writer who Empowers, Motivates, and Inspires through images and words. I am a Wellness Advocate encouraging BIPOC self-care, mental health, and women’s wellness as a Priority, not an after-thought. I am a Healing through Arts Facilitator advocating for Transforming traumas into the foundation that Creates your Best Life.
Lauren Morton, "Find Our Way Back"
Lauren Morton Bevensee is a freelance writer focused on the connectivity between gender, race, and society. She works in the nonprofit sector and lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two cats. Her work has appeared in OM, Aaduna, Midnight & Indigo, Luxe Radar Media and Mental Realness Mag. Connect with her on Instagram at @laureninlosangeles.