Previous Telling My Story Events
December 2009
Slideshow
Marina Thomas, author of the book
If I Decide to Fly! - Collected Poems of
Affirmation and Celebration for African-American Men/Boys, was the guest speaker for Telling My Story on December 12, 2009. The book is available for purchase at
http://www.marinathepoet.com.
Why You Should Go Left if
Everyone Else
is Going Right
Listening to your Own Inner Voice
Marina has never been one to follow the
crowd. Even as a young child when
most girls her age played with dolls, she begged her parents for a
typewriter. More than anything in
the world, Marina wanted to write.
Marina
Thomas was born
in Harlem and raised in Brooklyn, NY. She grew up in the
Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, and found herself in and out of
trouble in the tough neighborhood during her teen years.
Despite
having a
strong, positive, loving father in the household, parents that both
worked hard
to provide for Marina and her sibling, and being an extremely bright
student, she
continued to rebel through high school, barely graduating. It was not
until her freshman year at Norfolk State University that she realized
many of
her problems stemmed from childhood sexual abuse by a “friend” of
Marina’s
family.
In her
mid-thirties,
as a result of a personal commitment to wholeness and healing, Marina
decided
to take the helm of her life and sought counseling to liberate herself
from the
past. She succeeded in healing her mind, heart and spirit from the
trauma
of her childhood experience.
It was
at this point
in her life that she revisited an old friend…writing. Marina
wrote poetry sporadically in her teens, often turning
to it as a solace, but it wasn’t until her mid-thirties that she decided
she
wanted to write for a living.
“Once I was able to come to terms with what happened to me as a child, I
began to turn off the voice inside my head that was filled with negative
ideas
about myself, and began to re-write another script. A
script that told me I was worthy of all God promised for
me and my life,” states Marina.
Marina’s
journey
toward her dreams of writing full-time did not happen overnight, and
there were
times when she questioned her path, but a lay-off in January 2009
created the
space for her to turn to her passion for writing full-time. Since
that time, she has penned, cast
and debuted her first play; Black Diamonds and Pearls…Rise Up and
Shine!
based on an adaptation of her book of poetry, If
I Decide to Fly!, - Collected Poems of
Affirmation and Celebration for African-American Men/Boys . The
response was so overwhelmingly positive, that Marina and her cast have a
second
run of the production in November 2009, and she has received several
offers to
showcase her work in other venues.
Marina
now desires to
travel the world sharing her story through her poetry. Marina’s
debut book, If I Decide to Fly! - Collected Poems of
Affirmation and Celebration for African-American Men/Boys, is
her
testimony to the power of faith, love, and forgiveness. Her story of
triumph over a past that threatened to bind her to anger, resentment,
guilt and
pain is one that transcends nationality, sexual orientation, age, economic status, gender, race,
relationships, etc. It
is a universal story, one that could be told by any human being.
Consequently,
Marina’s
performances, workshops and lectures have been described as passionate,
captivating and inspiring. She has the innate ability to connect with
all
of humanity, inviting everyone in her presence to experience her poems,
not
just hear them.
ABOUT
MARINA :
Marina is a
poet,
playwright and performer. She is working on her second
book of
poems and her first manuscript for a novel. She recently released her
first CD which includes fourteen selections from the book If I Decide
To
Fly!, accompanied by original music.
Marina facilitates workshops on self-esteem for audiences of all
ages
and backgrounds. She holds a BA
from Queens University of Charlotte, in Charlotte, NC.
Visit Marina's Website: http://www.marinathepoet.com
March 2009
Telling My Story Photo Gallery
|
Tommy Watson, author of the book A Face of Courage: The Tommy Watson
Story, was the guest speaker for Telling My Story on March
31, 2009. A Face of Courage: The
Tommy Watson Story is available for purchase at Barnes and Nobles,
Borders, amazon.com, etc.
|
A Face
of Courage
The ultimate story of overcoming the odds
As
many young blacks growing up in poverty will attest to, it is hard to
keep on the straight and narrow. Around every corner is the temptation
to turn to drugs, gangs and violence and Tommy Watson knows as well as
anyone about this enticement. Struggling to overcome physical abuse,
abandonment and drug problems, Watson shares his inspiring story in A
Face of Courage: The Tommy Watson Story.
Growing up in the Five Points
area of Denver, Col.,
he had more than a couple of strikes against him. Out on the streets he
was witness to violence and drug trafficking, but it was his parents’
addiction to heroin and his father’s violent temper that left a lasting
impression on Watson.
“I
could have easily turned to drugs and gangs the way so many of my
friends did,” Watson said. “But, I vowed that I wanted to be better
than that, I wanted to be better than my father who used his fists to
solve problems, rather than his mind.”
As
a child Watson and his siblings were often left uncared for and
unsupervised as his parents found their way in and out of prison for
their illegal means of employment. As a teenager though, Watson turned
to basketball and football and found great success on the football
field. He rode that success to the University of Minnesota where he
played college football.
“The
team environment that I found on the field filled a void within my
life,” Watson said. “So many others that were close to me, including my
siblings, filled that void by joining gangs.”
Watson
was consumed by his dreams of playing in the NFL, but a career-ending
injury shattered his dreams and left him once again searching for his
path in life. Instead of giving up, Watson focused on his education and
decided that he wanted to help young people like himself, so he became
a principal.
A Face of Courage
is an open, honest portrayal of Watson’s life, and in it he shares with
sincerity many of the trials he has encountered. He shares his failures
and his success and hopes that through his story he can help to inspire
others like him to choose the right path and free themselves from the
streets.
“It’s
difficult to overcome a self-fulfilling prophecy of life on the
streets,” Watson said. “But through my story I hope to teach others
facing similar challenges, that you truly can overcome anything if you
work hard enough.”
About the author
Watson
has a bachelor of science, a master of educational administration, and
an advanced graduate degree in K–12 administration. He is working on
his Doctorate of Education and works as a school principal in
Minnesota. He is married and has four children.
For more information contact:
Tommy Watson
Tommywatson44@hotmail.com
651-230-1812 or 763-425-2484