When was glenis redmond born

It felt injurious to be taught by teachers and professors who were so ignorant. These are the same people who know their genealogical histories through family trees. They visit their homelands. They know their family crest and coat of arms. Many of them have come from varying degrees of benefits, via their ancestry and lineage, through land and wealth. Yet, as I strived to survive and to find and claim my history, they were offended and—much worse—they tried to silence and halt my search for an understanding of my familial and cultural plight.

This transition allowed me to contextualize history and understand my parents a little more. I was in their home state, but I was not ready for the segregated South. I was not ready for the unspoken mores of knowing my place. My siblings and I did not know our place. As Air Force brats, we were liberated from that mentality. We walked and talked a bit too freely for most of the whites and the Blacks from Piedmont, South Carolina.

We were often told we wanted to be white when, in actuality, we were just being the freest versions of our Black selves. I was fine as long as I was one of the best dancers and runners, but when I had my nose in a book or when I excelled in school, the pushback came. These admonitions came from members of both the Black and white communities.

South Carolina made me experience my Blackness differently. I remember when the Black girls on the track team donned sunblock not for skin protection and hid out under the shade in the trees, when we were not running, because their mamas told them not to get in the sun so that they would not get too black.

Yes, I felt put-upon when the boy next door wanted the light-skinned girl down the street, even though he and I were the best of friends and had so much in common. I was the young woman of substance. I was too young to know this was hardly a fetching characteristic for boys. Then, my first love broke my heart by leaving me for a bright, almost-white woman. His departure was for the best, though; we were not equally yoked.

I was a thinker, and he was not. I would have had a bigger heartbreak if we had married, but needless to say, I was still broken-hearted by his betrayal. He was a victim of being color struck. I had my share of suitors, but it was not until college that I began to bloom. My Caribbean boyfriend thought I was beautiful, but he wanted me to know my place.

That relationship did not last. My next boyfriend was white. We had twins together. We have now been divorced for 27 years. I had a generous heart, strong features, and an athletic build—also, a strong will and a straightforward personality. It merely astonishes me how anyone can deny themselves the pleasure of my company? I think I had to fight really hard to embrace who I was since my father did not care for me, and he took every opportunity to let me know.

He never once told me he loved me. He never once told me I was beautiful when I was a little girl. Now, as a mom and grandma, I cannot imagine not pouring love and adoration into a child. He was, obviously, emotionally and mentally unstable. Yet, I continued to rise above and override all of his negative messaging. This is an ongoing process. All girls want to be loved and adored by their fathers.

Though he was a proud, handsome, talented, and intelligent man, he eventually became broken by the system and his inner demons.

My father should have been a world-renowned jazz, blues, and gospel pianist. Yet, he could not get out his own defeatist way. Though our relationship was mostly conflicted, I credit my father for the artistic and outspoken aspects of myself. Yet, my father gave way to alcoholism, prescribed narcotics, and an untreated mental condition. All he endured, I do not know, but I did get glimpses of how America—especially the South—helped break him.

I use poems and essays to help me breathe and unpack the trauma of being Black in a white world. From birth, I felt like I was destined to be a social justice warrior. Dubois died. I could not articulate my pluck and resiliency when I was a child, but I grew to understand that what my family considered rebellious was the resistance of a poet, and a Black girl, and ultimately a Black woman insistent upon blooming instead of bowing my head.

I needed this obstinance to navigate what the world would hurl at me consistently. I use these poems and essays to help me breathe and unpack the trauma of being Black in a white world. Here, I also honor my hard-won triumphs and celebratory moments as well.

In this essay, I bear both the ruin and the fruit. Glenis Redmond is nationally renowned award-winning poet and teaching artist traveling the world sharing and teaching poetry. She writes about the strength of her Afro-Carolinian roots, while exploring their weighted and palpable histories. Glenis is a literary community leader. She co-founded a literary program called Peace Voices in her hometown of Greenville, SC from — For the past twelve years, she has traveled both domestically and abroad, performing and teaching.

Her poetry won the Carrie McCray literary award and she is also the two-time recipient of fellowships from both the Vermont Writing Center and the Atlantic Center f Poems are the property of their respective owners. All information has been reproduced here for educational and informational purposes to benefit site visitors, and is provided at no charge Glenis Redmond.

Glenis Redmond Poems 1. Read Poem. Redmond, 52, has had to grapple with some of the usual challenges that an entrepreneur faces: dealing with contracts and taxes, purchasing health insurance, identifying her niche and then marketing her product, which happens to be herself. Redmond had an office manager for 14 years to help with scheduling and other administrative matters.

Early on, Redmond embraced entrepreneurial risk. Or bust. There were a couple of years where I was living below the poverty level but I was dedicated to being a poet. The work was volatile. It was often feast or famine.

I was taking snapshots of memories. I was holding on to them. I was also a voracious reader and I loved words and I loved story. Redmond came from an artistic family. Her father, who was in the Air Force, was a blues, jazz and gospel pianist. Her siblings sang in choirs. Later, Redmond graduated from Erskine College with a degree in psychology and worked as a drug and alcohol abuse counselor in Greenville for seven years. Later, she was appointed a teaching artist with the South Carolina Arts Commission.

She became a teaching artist with the Peace Center before being appointed poet-in-residence at the performing arts venue three years ago. In order to survive, I had to leave home. Tickets: Admission-free but reservations should be made by emailing Taryn Zira at tzira peacecenter. Jason Rapp Aug 13th, Time to recognize arts achievement, influence, and support! A nomination letter should address any characteristics included in the category descriptions. The nomination letters are due Friday, Nov.

The South Carolina General Assembly created the awards in to recognize lifetime achievement in the traditional arts and presents them annually to honor the work of stewarding and furthering the traditional arts significant to communities throughout the state. McKissick Museum is collecting nominations until Friday, Nov.

For additional information and advisement, contact museum Executive Director Jane Przybysz: jprzybys mailbox. Nine distinguished recipients were recognized in May for exceptional achievements in, support of, or advocacy for the arts at a professional produced virtual ceremony. Details about the South Carolina Arts Awards will be announced later. Submitted material Nov 10th, Click to enlarge. Rather than perpetuating stereotypes that these artists somehow belong outside of the art world, The Artists Inside Outsider Art is an attempt to reconcile that marginalization by acknowledging that these artists have their own agency, and through their agency, they have made art that reflects their cultural experiences as southern contemporary artists.

For Faculty Curator Dr. Lana Burgess , this exhibition is personal. Talking to and working with them, I began to learn how many of them created art without a specific audience in mind. I invite visitors come and celebrate the ingenuity of the men and women who literally took materials readily available and made southern contemporary art.

The public is invited to a free opening reception on Tuesday, Nov. Register for your tickets online or by calling McKissick Museum tells the story of southern life: community, culture, and the environment.

McKissick is home to the Folklife Resource Center, a repository of folklife and traditional arts materials of value to Southern folklife researchers.

For visitation information, online exhibits, and more, please visit sc. Submitted material Nov 9th, African American artists ages 18 and up, living in the U. Up to two entries per artist may be selected by the curator of the exhibition. Artwork submitted for consideration does not have to be complete at time of entry.

Artists may enter works in progress. Artists are asked to create a fiber art piece that envisions a society free from the bondage of oppression—both physical and social. True social justice imagines a future void of racist and bigoted thought and the structures that violently oppress minorities and marginalized communities.