Debra Powell-Wright

Debra Powell-Wright has been invited to attend the opening exhibit and reception of “Celebrating Black Mermaids – From Africa to America” at City Gallery in Charleston, South Carolina. Curator and nationally renowned art quilter, Torreah “Cookie” Washington extended the invitation in response to seeing her fabric arts posts on social media. New to the fiber arts community, the exhibition will provide networking opportunities and further skill-building, as Debra continues to engage with social change entities while also immersing herself in traditional African Diaspora and folk art. The WOO Grant will support Debra’s accommodations and transportation for travel.

Debra Powell-Wright (ACG ‘06, ‘11, ‘15, ‘21; WOO ‘18, ’19, ‘20, ‘21, ‘22) has been invited to perform in-person at the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Creative Placemaking Leadership Summit, taking place both virtually and in Schenectady, New York, from April 18 through April 23. Performing with her percussion and poetry ensemble, Sistahs Laying Down Hands, the performance will engage participants in a call-and-response performance rooted in history, African traditions, healing, and the practice of Black Joy, even in the midst of grief. This grant will support transportation and accommodation costs to attend the summit.

Debra's project, "Philly Jawns: Resist is a Womanist Word", will be a year-long series of public performances and workshops based on the artistry and activism of forty women featured in the poetry anthology Philly Jawns: For Women Revisited. The series, coordinated in collaboration with women-owned and/or women-centered organizations, will serve as a tribute to Nina Simone and address themes of resilience, remembrance, reconciliation, and rejuvenation related to the Black Arts Movement, Black Lives Matter Movement, and MeToo Movement, as well as other initiatives that address the health and well-being of Black and Brown women and girls.

Debra Powell-Wright (WOO '20, '18, ACG '15, '11, '06), as the editor of Philly Jawns: For Women Revisited – a poetry anthology in tribute to Nina Simone featuring forty women of color – has been asked to curate readings, discussions, and performances for Arcadia University and the West Chester University Poetry Festival.

Due to current COVID safety suggestions, the curated events will occur online. This grant will support Debra in hiring a media professional to record and edit high quality performance videos to share at these two events and beyond. 

Debra Powell-Wright (WOO ’18, ACG ’15 ’11 ’06), Karen Smith (ACG ’19), Donna Dorman, and Naa Koikoi-Aziza Zensile Kebe, the members of Weez the SistahDolls Posse, have been invited by Tomorrow's Girls & Women to perform and facilitate a workshop for their summer mentoring program on Saturday, July 11th.

The workshop will feature poetry writing and a discussion about community involvement, and the performance will include a drum circle and writing created by the Tomorrow's Girls participants. In addition to a live performance, Weez the SistahDolls Posse will create an accompanying video and webinar to be viewed by those unable to attend and for use at a later date or in the case that an in-person performance is not feasible due to the pandemic.

Debra Powell-Wright will attend the 2018 Africa Writes Festival in London, England. The conference brings together literary artists from Africa and the diaspora to participate in book launches, panel discussions, master classes and an international book fair. She will share her collection of short stories and poems For Women: In Tribute to Nina Simone at the British Library, reconnect with two of the writers from the collection, and engage with other literary artists in attendance.

Debra’s project, For Women: UNSILENCED, a collection of poems in the acrostic form, will be gathered from an intergenerational community of women and girls of color. Conducted by members of the performance ensemble, For Women Collective, these poetry-writing workshops will take place in shelters, senior centers, and other community spaces, and will include an overview of women of color artists whose work has impacted the civil rights, black arts, and social justice movements. Debra believes that this project will provide women and girls of color the opportunity to have their work published, share that work as performance, and result in a tangible product made possible using their voices and sense of self-empowerment

Debra will publish a collection of short stories and poems that will address issues of relationships, racism, sexuality, and concepts of beauty as told from the perspective of American, African, Caribbean, and British women of color contributors who live around the world. The collection, For Women—In Tribute to Nina Simone, was inspired by Debra’s essay, “Four Women—For Women: Black Women All Grown Up,” which examines the lyrics of Nina Simone’s classic, Four Women and Talib Kweli’s hip-hop tribute, For Women.  An accomplished spoken word artist and poetry writing workshop facilitator, Debra’s goal for this collection is to offer an opportunity for publication to authors outside of the academic arena, similar to the opportunity offered to her by publication of her essay in the anthology, Examining The Black Female Body. Debra will facilitate readings at community-based venues for the purpose of bringing together diverse groups and engaging in stimulating dialogue about the issues addressed in the collection.

Debra will help plan and co-host From Womb to Womanhood, a three day conference for women and girls of color, featuring women across artistic disciplines addressing issues of concern to ethnically and culturally diverse females. Inspired by the poetry writing workshops she facilitates in women’s shelters and transitional living environments with her group In The Company of Poets, Debra believes this conference will allow a space to see the connection between artistic expression and self-empowerment for women of color. One of the goals is for women and girls who live the power of art and social change every day to serve as examples and living testimonies for one another.