“Gathering & Gabbing” will consider books by and about Zora Neale Hurston and her body of work.
All sessions take place on Saturdays, beginning at 3:00 PM Eastern. The in-person location is the
Excellence Without Excuse (E-WE) Community Computer Arts Lab & Learning Center
323 East Kennedy Boulevard, Suite D Eatonville, FL 32751.
10 person maximum, with masks, social distancing, and hand sanitation required
Date: November 20, 2021, 03:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Moderator:
Cocoa M. Williams
Professor English at Spelman College in Atlanta, GA
Cocoa M. Williams
Professor at Spelman College in Atlanta, GA
Cocoa M. Williams received her PhD in African American Literary and Cultural Studies with a minor concentration in American Modernism and Black Diasporic Modernisms at Florida State University. Her research interests include African American women’s literature, black modernity, modern African American art, black digital humanities, museum studies, black film studies, and folklore. Her dissertation project explores the impact of museum culture on African American arts and letters. She holds a B.A. in English (2005) and a B.A. in Philosophy (2005) from Valdosta State University, and she completed an M.A. in English at Clemson University in 2007.
Cocoa Williams is the recipient of the J. Russell Reaver Award for Outstanding Dissertation in American Literature or Folklore, McKnight Dissertation Fellowship, P.E.O. Scholar Award, the Ruth Yost Memorial Scholarship, among others. Dr. Williams is also a published poet. Her poetry has been published in Dogwood: A Journal of Poetry and Prose, Ninth Letter, College Language Association Journal and December Magazine. Dr. Williams is currently teaching at Spelman College in Atlanta, GA .
Date: September 18, 2021, 03:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Moderators:
Tawnicia Ferguson Rowan
Assistant Professor English at Florida Memorial University
Tawnicia Ferguson Rowan
Assistant Professor English at Florida Memorial University
Tawnicia Ferguson Rowan is an Assistant Professor of English at Florida Memorial University, a licensed teacher in the Universal Foundation for Better Living, and the founder of Well-Written Words, LLC. She is a second-generation native of Miami, Florida, and a proud alumna of two Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs): Spelman College, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English, and the Interdenominational Theological Center, where she earned her Master of Divinity degree. She earned her Master of Arts degree in English from Vanderbilt University.
Tawnicia is passionate about good writing, spiritual activism, and womanist thought, and she is committed to uplifting people through literacy. “Well-written words have the power to effect change,” she says. “We must cultivate our ability to comprehend them, to interpret them, and to generate them for ourselves.” She currently serves in the Adult Education ministry at the Universal Truth Center in Miami Gardens, where she and her husband James have been members since 1999.
Tawnicia is a member of the Miami Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, the Dade County Chapter of The Links, Incorporated, and the Miami Chapter of The Girl Friends, Incorporated. In her leisure time, she enjoys playing musical instruments, journaling with her favorite fountain pens, and gathering with friends and family, especially at the beach.
Dr. Darnise C. Martin
Clinical Assistant Professor of African American Studies at Loyola Marymount University
Dr. Darnise C. Martin
Clinical Assistant Professor of African American Studies at Loyola Marymount University
Darnise C. Martin holds a doctorate in Cultural and Historical Studies in Religion from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. She is a Clinical Associate Professor at Loyola Marymount University where she teaches courses in Theological Studies and African American Studies. Dr. Martin is the author of Beyond Christianity: African Americans in a New Thought Church (New York University Press, 2005), and coeditor of Women and New and Africana Religions, a volume within the Women in Religions Series for Praeger press (Praeger, 2009).
She continues to conduct research on African Diaspora religions and Africans Americans in metaphysical religions. Dr. Martin has also been featured on Tavis Smiley’s radio program on National Public Radio (NPR), and has appeared on KJLH radio in Los Angeles. She has consulted on feature length documentaries such as Dark Girls and Light Girls for the Oprah Winfrey Network.
Date: May 15, 2021, 03:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Date: July 17, 2021, 03:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)