My dad and co-author, Dr. John F. Leeke and I traveled to Hagerstown, Maryland, and met with Mayor Bill McIntire and City Councilmembers Tiara Burnett, Candice Anderson, Erika Bell, Kristin Aleshire, and Sean Flaherty on August 11th.
During our meeting, we introduced them to our book, American Change Agent: A Life & Legacy of Seeking Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion. We discussed our requests for the issuance of a proclamation and a historical marker recognzing our family’s connection to Hagerstown and use of the Underground Railroad to escape slavery in the late 1830s.
We also shared our interest in co-hosting an event that would introduce American Change Agent and our family’s Underground Railroad journey to the Hagerstown and Washington County communities during International Underground Railroad Month in September, Maryland Emancipation Day in November, or later this year.
Several councilmembers expressed an interest in issuing a proclamation and purchased copies of our book. We look forward to working with the them and the City of Hagerstown in the coming weeks and months.
Special thanks to City Councilmember Burnett for helping us secure a meeting with the City Council!
The meeting was live streamed on the City of Hagerstown’s Facebook page. Click the video below to watch our presentation. Start watching the video at the 3.10 minute mark (ends at 15.1 minute mark).
As a multidiscplinary artist and writer, I intentionally carve out time each month to participate in Creative Mornings gatherings in DC, Baltimore, or online. Being in community with others nurtures my creative spirit, heart, and mind. The connections I make and conversations I have with other creatives inspires and exposes me to new ideas, opportunities, resources, and events.
On July 31st, I attended the Creative Mornings DC July gathering at the National Geographic Museum. I also served as a registration volunteer and was inspired by NatGeo explorer Rachel Zoe Miller’s talk. Here’s one takeaway from Rachel’s talk: be your average!
LEARN MORE ABOUT THRIVING MINDFULLY
Click the video below to listen to my spoken word song, “Thriving Mindfully Theme” that appears on my Thriving Mindfully As Theresa’s Daughter album.
GREAT NEWS! I have been selected to serve as the U Street Neighborhood Association’s 2026 Artist-in-Residence. Learn more here.
If you are in DC, join me for my first workshop entitled Thriving Mindfully: A Love Letter to U Street on July 29th from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the True Reformer Building’s Community Room,1200 U Street, NW. Sign up here.
While writing American Change Agent: A Life & Legacy of Seeking Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion, my dad, Dr. John F. Leeke and I gathered our family’s history from conversations with family members, oral history stories passed down from previous generations, newspapers, obituaries, calendars, event tickets, program booklets, local/state/national history, books, websites, documents, photos, American and Canadian censuses, AfricanAncestry.com, and Ancestry.com.
Each piece of our family history reminded us to honor and celebrate the presence, lives, and contributions of our ancestors as American history.
As the United States prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of its founding, we decided to host a virtual book discussion about our “American Change Agent” writing journey and the importance of celebrating family history as American history on June 27, 2026. Watch the video below to learn more.
Click the button below to get more information and buy American Change Agent.
This week, my dad, Dr. John F. Leeke and I kicked off our American Change Agent summer book tour with two events in local communities in Maryland and Washington, DC. On June 24th, we visited with the Unity and Presence Book Club located in an over 55 community in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Dr. John led a juicy discussion with club members that focused on the importance of documenting and celebrating family history as American history, the Leak/Leeke family’s Underground Railroad journey, his family life and relationships with his wife and children, and his career in diversity, equality, and inclusion.
On June 25th, we visited The Residences at Thomas Circle, an assisted living community in Washington, DC, and introduced American Change Agent to residents and staff. Our discussion also focused on the importance of honoring Juneteenth and our ancestral resilience we have been able to tap into as we have navigated life in America. We also engaged in conversations about racism and the importance of embracing diversity, equality, and inclusion.
As the United States prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of its founding, we want to take a moment and encourage you and your family and friends to honor and celebrate your family history as American history.
We also invite you to join us for a book and group discussion about the importance of celebrating family history as American history on Saturday, June 27th from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET via Zoom. During the free event, we will talk briefly about key moments in our family history that we honor and lead a group discussion about the importance of you celebrating your family history.
While writing American Change Agent: A Life & Legacy of Seeking Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion (2025), we gathered our family’s history from conversations with family members, oral history stories passed down from previous generations, newspapers, obituaries, calendars, event tickets and program booklets, local/state/national history, books, websites, documents and photos kept by family members, American and Canadian censuses, AfricanAncestry.com, and Ancestry.com. Each piece of our family history reminded us to honor and celebrate the presence, lives, and contributions of our ancestors as American history.
As the United States prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of its founding, we want to take a moment and encourage you and your family and friends to honor and celebrate your family history as American history.
We also invite you to join us for a book and group discussion about the importance of celebrating family history as American history on Saturday, June 27th from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET via Zoom. During the free event, we will talk briefly about key moments in our family history that we honor and lead a group discussion about the importance of you celebrating your family history.
Today is a very special day in my dad, Dr. John F. Leeke’s life. It’s his 87th birthday and the first year publication anniversary of his memoir, American Change Agent: A Life & Legacy of Seeking Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion. In honor of both milestones, we decided to share one of the most powerful moments we experienced during our journey as co-authors. It happened a few weeks ago when we visited Hagerstown, the city our 16 Leak/Leek ancestors were enslaved in.
In the early 1840s, my great-great-great-grandparents, Peter and Catherine along with their 14 children, including my great-great-grandfather Leonard, escaped slavery by traveling over 400 miles on the Underground Railroad to freedom in Amherstburg, Canada. While writing American Change Agent, I used my great-great grandfather Leonard’s obituary (see below) that was published in the Lansing State Journal, our cousin Ellen Cook’s research included in our family tree on Ancestry.com, the U.S. and Canadian Censuses, and information from the Doleman Black Heritage Museum, Amherstburg Freedom Museum, and VisitHagerstown.com to estimate how and when our brave and determined ancestors reached freedom.
This information helped us make some reasonable assumptions about our ancestors’ initial escape from slavery in Hagerstown with the support of the Ebenezer African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church founded by Rev. Thomas Henry in the 1830s. Rev. Henry and Ebenezer AME Church were very active in the abolitionist movement and helped African Americans plan and execute their escapes in Maryland.
Leonard Leak/Leek’s Obituary
We visited Ebenezer AME Church located on 26 W. Bethel Street while we were headed to our book reading at Next Chapter Books & Shop in Hagerstown. During our visit, my brother Matt took photos and recorded videos of us discussing the importance of knowing who you are and where your people (family) come from. We also met one of the neighbors who told us her house was originally a sanctuary for hiding African Americans who were seeking freedom.
Being able to stand on the same ground that our Leak/Leek ancestors possibly stood on was humbling, powerful, and affirming. Check out the photos below.
We love participating in book readings and discussions (in-person and virtual). These events are always special because they give us an opportunity to interact with our readers and hear their point of view and stories.
We want to thank everyone who has supported us during the past year. We could not do it without you!!!
Check out photos of some of the people we met during our recent book talk at Next Chapter Cafe’ & Book Shop in Hagerstown, Maryland.
If you or your business, church, community, or organization are interested in hosting us for an in-person or virtual book talk event, please contact ananda@anandaleeke.com.
Did you know Older Americans Month is celebrated in May?
HISTORY
In 1963, President John F. Kennedy and members of the National Council of Senior Citizens met and decided to designate May as Senior Citizens Month to to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of past and current older persons.
When President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Older Americans Act in 1965, the Senior Citizens Month became known as Older Americans Month. Its purpose shifted to highlighting the need for services and community support for older Americans. The Administration for Community Living promotes the annual observance.
HOW I AM CELEBRATING OLDER AMERICANS MONTH
This year, my dad, Dr. John F. Leeke and I are celebrating Older Americans Month by encouraging folks who are over 60 to share and document their life stories and lessons learned with their family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, community, fellow club/church/group/service organization members, and/or online network in small, medium, and big ways.
During the discussion, we shared why Hagerstown is important to our Leak/Leek family history in America. In the early 1840s, Peter and Catherine Leak/Leek and their 14 children escaped slavery via the Underground Railroad and traveled approximately 410 miles to freedom in Amherstburg, Canada. Leonard Leak/Leek, my father’s great-grandfather was one of Peter and Catherine’s sons. Read his obituary below.
My dad also shared life stories that highlighted the importance of his lesson #2: Relationships are essential to your development and the impact you make on the world. His sharing sparked a discussion lively discussion among audience members.
FYI Chapter 22 in American Change Agent is entitled “A Legacy Gift for You: Lessons Learned.” It contains his top 10 lessons.
Many thanks to Dr. Genie Massey and the Maryland League of Women Voters for organizing the event.
Special thanks to Melissa and Bryan Noel, owners of Next Chapter Cafe’ & Book Shop, and their amazing team for hosting the event.
A deep bow of gratitude to my brother Matt for taking photos and recording videos during the book discussion.
MY SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO SHARE & DOCUMENT YOUR LIFE STORIES & LESSONS LEARNED
1) Reflect and journal about the top one to three lessons you learned during your teen years, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, or 90s in your personal life, relationships, career, health, or finances. Look for any themes of resilience, intentional living, practicing gratitude, setting boundaries, asking for help, overcoming doubt and fear, or embracing change and joy.
2) Share what you have written with your chosen network of folks who would benefit from your lessons learned in a conversation, letter, email, blog, social media post, artwork, video, audio recording. and in-person or online gathering.
3) Consider turning your life stories and lessons learned into a Word or pdf document and/or an e-book with photos.
I invite you to request your public local libraries add our book to their collection. Check with your library to see if my book is in its collection. You can ask in person or search the library’s online catalog. Most libraries have a form on their website for requesting books and require a valid library card for requests.
