From Orphan To Cultural Father

My dad says he was orphaned through the death of his mother at age 9 and through the abandonment of his father at the same time. In this episode he shares his memories of Emma Jean Hutchison, a woman who bore 9 children and was pregnant when she died of an aneurism in 1947. We talk about how his mother's death, which to him felt like a disappearance, informed his work as a mentor over his 40 year teaching career. A Mississippi native, Treasure Shields Redmond is a published poet, master educator, community arts organizer, and successful entrepreneur. Treasure was raised in the federal housing projects, and went on to be signed to M.C. Hammer’s label as a hip hop artist, and writer. She is the author of chop: a collection of kwansabas for fannie lou hamer (2015). Her doctoral research focuses on the recorded performances of foundational Black Women poets, and the ways they deployed sound to impact the canon and justice movements. Treasure centers collaboration in her personal arts practice and as an organizing principle. As such, she has co-founded a funding collective for Black artists called The Black Skillet, and a podcast that centers voices of color called Who Raised You? Treasure is the founder of Feminine Pronoun Consultants, LLC, and Get The Acceptance Letter Academy. To read, hear, support, or hire Treasure, go to any of the following: www.FemininePronoun.com www.GetTheAcceptanceLetter.online www.blackskilletfunders.tumblr.com www.whoraisedyoupodcast.com