Hosting creative writing workshops with the children of galesburg.

Samples of Writing

The Afro-Latino community boasts a mad amount of talent, it’s no secret. This is abundantly seen on the entertainment front: talented dancers, artists, singers, athletes and actors showcase their skills. Faizon Love, Christina Milian, Mariah Carey, Melissa De Desousa, Sammy Sosa, Alex Rodriguez are only a few examples of what the Afro-Latino community has to offer. Members of this wonderful community have also touched other industries, including the publishing industry, riling the world with creative works of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and screenwriting.  These agents of literature are representing their heritage well, and it’s about time that we listen.

Edwidge Danticat

Haitian-American writer Edwidge Danticat (yes, Haiti is a Latin American nation) was born in Port-au-Prince in 1969, and immigrated to New York at the age of 12. Danticat’s love for the written word led to her earning a BA in French Literature, and later on she earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Brown University. Her first novel Breath, Eyes, Memory… was published in 1994, and since, Danticat has written several other books, including the riveting novel, The Farming Bones. Danticat has won dozens of awards for her titles, including the Langston Hughes award and the National Book Award.

Veronica Chambers

Veronica Chambers, Panama-born writer and editor who is best known for her memoir, Mama’s Girl, has made her mark on the entertainment and literary community through her prolific efforts. She’s worked as an executive story editor on the show Girlfriends, was a writer for the New York Times, she’s developed projects for the N and Fox, been a feature director at Glamour, and most recently serves as the deputy editor for Good Housekeeping. She’s also written more than a dozen children books, and a number of both fiction and non-fiction books.

Junot Diaz

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic-native Junot Diaz is one of the hottest writers on the scene right now. He began his career with a short story collection entitled, Drown. Several years later, Diaz published The Brief and Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao, a Pulitzer Prize winning novel that was a mix of comedic slam dunks and tragedy, that was on the New York Times bestseller list and gained acclaim across the literary community. Diaz’s latest novel, This is How You Lose Her, has been named as a finalist for the National Book Award. Diaz, in addition to writing, is working as a professor at MIT.

Willie Perdomo

Nuyorican (New York Puerto Rican) poet Willie Perdomo began writing poetry as an angsty teenager. Over the years, he’s developed a voice and sound that greatly incorporates not only race and culture, but a sense of self. Perdomo is currently working on his next project entitled, Emergency Money, and he is the the co-publisher for Cypher Books, an independent publisher for poetry.  Some of Perdomo’s more famous works are “N-Word-Reecan Blues,” 123rd street rap,” Clemente!, Where a Nickel Costs a Dime and Smoking Lovely.

Paulo Lins

The talented Brazilian author, Paulo Lins, who wrote the critically acclaimed masterpiece, City of God, was born in Rio de Janeiro. The novel, which was later adapted into a blockbuster film, met great commercial success, and helped propel Lin’s career. Lin’s most recent work is Desde Que O Samba e Samba (Ever Since Samba Has Been Samba). He was also the screen writer for two movies, Almost Brothers and Orfeu. Lins is currently writing for a Brazilian television series, O Amor Nao Presta.

Gwendolyn Ifill

Earning fame through her efforts as a journalist, television newscaster and author, Ifill has worked for the Boston Herald-American, Baltimore Evening Sun, The Washington Post, The New York Times and NBC; and presently, Ifill resides as the managing editor and moderator of Washington Week and a senior correspondent for the PBS NewsHour. Ifill has covered six Presidential campaigns throughout her career, winning the George Peabody Award during the 2008 election for her live 10-city coverage, and she wrote the highly-acclaimed book, The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama, which was released on Inauguration Day in 2009.

Soledad O'Brien

 Born to an Afro-Cuban mother and an Irish-Australian father, O’Brien attended Harvard, alongside her five siblings. Despite not obtaining her degree until she returned to school in 2000, her journalism career began in the early ‘90s, where she worked as an associate producer and news writer at WBZ-TV. She later worked on NBC Nightly News, Today, “The Know Zone,” The Next Step, and is behind Black in America. She was most recently the host of Starting Point on CNN. O’Brien has won an Emmy and NAACP Award. Also, she has appeared on “Top 100 Irish Americans,” “Groundbreaking Latina of the Year,” and in 2006 was featured as one of Newsweek’s “15 People Who Make America Great.” In 2010, O’Brien co-authored The Next Big Story: My Journey through the Land of Possibilities, which documents some of the biggest reporting moments during her career.

Piri Thomas

Piri Thomas, the writer of the best-seller, Down These Mean Streets –a memoir which showcases racism, poverty, gang violence, drugs and crime in Spanish Harlem, has written a great deal of social commentary on the topics of racial and ethnic identity. Thomas spent time delving into how African-Americans fail to recognize Afro-Latinos as Latino, and how being Latino is difficult as a dark-complected individual. His other works include A Matter of Dignity, Savior, Savior My Hand, Seven Long Times and Stories from El Barrio. He traveled around the world, conducting workshops and giving lectures.  Thomas died from pneumonia in the fall of 2011.

Nicolas Guillen

Best remembered as the national poet of Cuba, Guillen began his writing career as a published writer in various magazines in the 1920s. The “Negrista” poetry market was initially dominated by White Cubans until Guillen came on the scene. With his black poetry, he created writing that was marked with African themes, and he helped to emphasize Afro-Cuban writing as a valid genre in Cuban Lit. He published his first work, Motivos de son in 1930, and his final work, Por el Mar de las Antillas anda un barco de papel: Poemas para niños mayores de edad,in 1977.

Carlos Guillermo Wilson

Wilson’s passion for writing was roused by his Latin American literature professor at UCLA. Since his debut, Wilson has written a novel about the people of African origin during slavery (The Grandchildren of Felicidad Dolores), and a collection of poetry, “Pensamientos del Negro Cubena,” which is a compilation of 51 poems that cover the topics that include slavery, love and racial consciousness.  Wilson has published in both English and Spanish.

By: Nicole Thompson

Despite what we may think, many celebrities started out just as broke as the rest of us. Sound impossible? It isn’t. There is a list as long as my arm of actors, singers, song-writers and producers who began their careers in their basements or in garages, while chowing down on ramen noodles or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Before some of the ladies on this list were raking in millions if not billions, they went through their share of struggles (including discrimination, living in poverty, drug use and more) just like everyone else.

Lil Kim

The Queen Bee, born Kimberly Denise Jones, spent a great deal of her adolescent life on the streets of the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn after being dismissed from her home. She then dropped out of high school, spending time as a Bloomingdale’s associate and cashier before meeting her mentor (and boo), Notorious B.I.G. With his direction, she became a member of Junior M.A.F.I.A., blossomed into an independent artist, and landed small roles in movies. Though she is less buzz-worthy than she once was and has suffered a series of personal and professional setbacks, she still has a net worth of $18 million.

Mary J. Blige

The reigning queen of hip-hop soul, Blige was raised in a problematic home, living in the Schlogbohm Houses: a housing project in Yonkers, New York. Growing up, Blige went though much, including being molested by a family friend at the age of five. She started her musical career in church, using it as an escape, but as a teen, she started to fell prey to secular temptations; dropping out of high school, and becoming involved in alcohol, sex and drugs. Her saving grace was a trip to the mall, where she recorded a cover of Anita Baker’s “Caught Up in the Rapture.” With the assistance of her mother’s boyfriend, the recording landed in the lap of Uptown Records’ CEO, Andre Harrell. There, she was paired with Sean “Puffy” Combs, who help to create a brand image for her. Nine Grammy Awards, eight multi-platinum albums and Four American Music Awards later, Blige is at the peak of her success. Today, her net worth is $45 million dollars.

Halle Berry

The Academy Award winning actress spent the first few years of her life in an inner-city neighborhood, located in Cleveland, Ohio. After her father abandoned her family, Berry’s mother relocated to a predominately white suburb, where she dealt with a great deal of discrimination. She thrived in school however, becoming a part of dozens of extracurricular activities, and during the 80’s she earned a number of beauty pageant titles. Deciding on a career as an entertainer, Berry moved to New York, where she was hoping to work as a model and actress, but things didn’t get off to the best start. After being in NYC for a little while, Berry ran out of money and wound up living in a homeless shelter for a little while. But after a few short-lived roles and unsuccessful television appearances, the roles and jobs started rolling in for her, and her first huge role was as a crackhead in Jungle Fever. With over three dozen movies under her belt now and a bevvy of awards and nominations, Berry’s net worth is $70 Million.

Janet Jackson

The curvy starlet and her celebrity family weren’t always knee deep in pet monkeys and large lots of land. At one point, Jackson and her family were simply a lower middle class family from Gary, Indiana, her father working as a crane operator and her mother living as a homemaker; the couple and their 10 children making due in their three-bedroom home. Through the efforts of her father, her brothers’ group, the Jackson 5, signed with Motown Records, which afforded them the opportunity to move to Los Angeles into a swanky mansion. Jackson began her career on television in the family’s variety show, “Jacksons.” Following her first television appearance, she appeared on “Good Times,” “A New Kind of Family” and “Different Strokes.” She, then, blossomed in the music arena slowly and surely, and as a screen star, easily becoming recognized as one of the more talented and popular Jacksons. Today, Janet Jackson’s net worth is approximately $200 million.

Mariah Carey

The powerhouse pop singer was born into a family that was rattled by the racist attention it attracted due to the fact that her mother was Irish-American and her father was Afro-Venezuelan. Outside hostility put immense on the family and played a role in the divorce of her parents. Her mother, then had to work two or three jobs to keep the family afloat, also having to move the family between different towns on Long Island. Somehow still attentive, Carey’s mother trained her, helping her to develop vocal skills. After graduating high school, Carey met Sony Music executive Tommy Motolla at a Columbia Records party who took interest, tracking her down Cinderella-style to sign her after listening to her demo. Two years later, Carey released her self-titled album and won two Grammy Awards, and the album went on to be the highest selling album of 1991. Years later, after successes, breakdowns, divorces, drama, relapse and new-found love, the diva’s net worth is $500 million.