By Margo Hammond. There aren’t many witness still around from baseball’s Golden Age era, usually considered to be from about 1920 to 1960. In Peter Golenbock’s new book, “Whispers of the Gods,” their stories come alive…. Read More
By Margo Hammond. Meet Natalie Symons. Like a running quarterback on the football field, she is a double threat in the literary world – an award-winning playwright and a top-of-the charts literary thriller writer…. Read More
By Margo Hammond. On our anniversary my husband and I always try to include a museum visit for our celebrations to remind ourselves that marriage is an art. This year we went to an exhibit at the Morean Art Center called Bookish, where artists had been asked to submit works based on a book they loved. It was an inspiring concept…. Read More
By Margo Hammond. The Cultured Books Literacy Foundation is a nonprofit, book-promoting organization with an unusual mission. Unlike most literacy programs which look to the needs of individual children, CBLF is interested in fostering literacy throughout an entire community — the Black community of south St. Pete. “It’s not just about focusing on the children,” the foundation says on its website, “It’s about supporting and involving parents as well.” For CBLF, literacy is a lifestyle…. Read More
By Amanda Sieradzki. In November, I began an interdisciplinary, community dance class at downtown Tampa’s Water Works Park Pavilion. Classes are donation-based and open to anyone who wants to discover the world around them through movement and poetry. my goal as writer, poet, dancer and educator, is to provide a safe, welcoming environment for anyone with a desire to reconnect with themselves through movement…. Read More
By M. Thandabantu Iverson. here’s a word of thanks
lettin’ you know I heard
testifyin’ that I ain’t scared no longer
to say out loud that listenin’ at the table and hearin’ all those prayers
mixed in with all the truthtellin’ makes sense to me now… Read More
By Margo Hammond. In 2012, after reading Anita Diamant’s The Red Tent, Barbara Rhode was inspired to launch a unique program of healing at the Pinellas County Jail for women prisoners. The Red Tent Women’s Initiative, a program that combines group therapy with classes on arts and crafts, has helped over 1,000 incarcerated women work through the trauma that landed them behind bars in the first place… Read More
By Bernice Willis. Let’s talk, not text, your voice is what I want to hear
It closes in the distance, as if you-are-near.
Call Me
Your voice is pleasing, gives me the same joy as to when
I heard it the first time. A text can’t recapture that moment, now or then…. Read More
By Troy Legette. Proud of you; Yes! Proud of you; I am
For you come from a culture so rich
Proud of you; Yes! Proud of you; I am
For your powers are phenomenal
Every poem that I write has a purpose. I think my very first poem evolved after reading a newspaper while enduring tough times and came across a poetry contest. I entered it…. Read More
By Bob Devin Jones. I heard it, the chat that is life. I felt the sound come back to me, very slow and faint at first, then distinct, not really urgent – just rather incessant and oh so necessary…… Read More
