Next #Flyychat Monday, June 27th @ 8pm EST

 The Meaning of Michael

 

Michael Jackson was one of the greatest entertainers of all time.  His influence on music, dance and pop culture is unparalleled. 

He is soul.  

He is Black genius. 

He is both magical and complex.  

There will never be another.

June 25 will mark 7 years since his untimely death. 

Please join me and panel of Flyy MJ fans:  Aleia Brown, Renee K. Smith, Shawndella Taylor and Renee Watson as reflect on the life and complicated legacy  of Michael Joseph Jackson.

Bios

Aleia Brown

Aleia Brown is currently a visiting scholar at the Michigan State University Museum where she primarily serves as the curator and co-project manager for a collaborative exhibition with the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation. She is also a Public History doctoral candidate at Middle Tennessee State University. Online Ms. Brown co-leads two Twitter chats #museumsrespondtoferguson and #blktwitterstorians. 

Check out her website  aleiambrown.org and follow her on Twitter: aleiabrown and Instagram:  thataleiabrown. 

Renee K. Smith

Over the last ten years, Renee K. Smith has served in many capacities at Ifetayo Cultural Arts Academy. Her roles have included teaching artist in the dance and visual arts departments, coordinator for the Cultural Arts Program, Arts Education Director responsible for arts programming throughout the organization and Senior Faculty Member empowered to share proven engagement techniques with new faculty members as Ifetayo continued to divine it’s pedagogy through the creation of the Rites of Passage Training Institute. During these roles, she has had the amazing opportunity to sit and learn firsthand from the Founder of Ifetayo, Kwayera Archer-Cunningham how to engage youth and families in high quality arts and cultural programming that would leave them transformed from each session. After completing at least 200 hours of training in Ifetayo’s Rites of Passage Teacher Training Institute, she understands the importance of developing great educators through a process that includes reflective learning and how this method of interaction with teachers correlates to high levels of engagement of youth in the classroom.

Currently, Renee is the Director of Operations & Digital Strategies responsible for developing and implementing systems and technology that allows the organization to be efficient and remain relevant to the needs of its community. She holds a Master’s of Science in Non Profit Management from The Robert J. Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy, New School University and completed her undergraduate degree at Hunter College of the City University of New York in Dance Education. She has also received a certificate from Columbia University Graduate School of Business from the Middle Management Program. She has presented at New York State Council on the Arts Summer Seminar, Brooklyn Arts Council Brooklyn Consortium Events and Ifetayo’s Global Axe Conference in Brazil. As an artist and educator, she has had the opportunity to travel around the world which has included visiting Prague, Italy, Guinea, France, Cuba, and Brazil. As Ifetayo continue to grow, it is her goal to grow with the organization developing technological systems to document institutional successes for future generations of Ifetayo community members.

Renee Watson

Renée Watson is the author of This Side of Home (Bloomsbury 2015), which was nominated for the Best Fiction for Young Adults by the American Library Association. Her picture book, Harlem’s Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills (Random House 2012), received several honors including an NAACP Image Award nomination in children’s literature. Her novel, What Momma Left Me, (Bloomsbury 2010), debuted as the New Voice for 2010 in middle grade fiction. Her one woman show, Roses are Red Women are Blue, debuted at the Lincoln Center at a showcase for emerging artists. Her picture book, A Place Where Hurricanes Happen (Random House, 2010), is based on poetry workshops she facilitated with children in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and was featured on NBC Nightly News.

Renée has given readings and lectures at many renowned places, including the United Nations Headquarters and the Library of Congress. In 2015 she was honored with the STEAM award for her work in arts education by Inner City Foundation of New York, Inc.  She is on the Council of Writers for the National Writing Project and is a team member of We Need Diverse Books. She currently teaches courses on writing for children at University of New Haven and Pine Manor College.

Renée grew up in Portland, Oregon and currently lives in New York City.

Website
www.reneewatson.net
 

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Shawndella Taylor 

Shawndella attended Clark Atlanta University with a partial voice scholarship. She latergraduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Speech Communication and Theater Arts. Aftergraduating from CAU a semester early in December of 1996, she moved to New York City inJanuary 1997. She began her career at CBS News and worked on shows like Cosby, Letterman,Evening News with Dan Rather, CBS This Morning and The Early Show. After helping a coworker produce a show for the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards, she was inspired to work with musicians and artists. After working with a few projects, she voluntarily left CBS to work on her passion – music. She landed at Arista Records where she worked in A&R under the direction o fLA Reid. She began songwriting for other independent artists and hosting local talent showcases in New York City.

Shawndella applied and was accepted into the Baltimore City Teaching Residency which later allowed her to incorporate music and creativity into educating youth. She moved to Baltimore, Maryland to attend graduate school. She successfully graduated in 2007 with a Masters of Teaching from The Johns Hopkins University. Since 2004, Shawndella has been a successful educator in Baltimore, Maryland and Atlanta,Georgia. She has used her creative talent to mentor, reach, teach, and challenge children in urban areas. Highly qualified and certified to teach grades K-8 Shawndella has been utilized primarily as a “game changer in Mathematics” where she teaches tested grade levels specifically to raise Mathematics scores by using different creative techniques with a personal approach. She was promoted out of the classroom as a Math Specialist in Baltimore, Maryland early in her education career. She was also the lead Mathematics Teacher at Margaret Fain Elementary School in Atlanta, Georgia where she helped fifth graders achieve the highest Math test scores in the school.

Today, Shawndella manages a Title I based program for school districts in Atlanta, mentors teachers, leads workshops on best practices, and continues to work with youth. She also writes songs and performs through her music production company, 19 Melodies music.