Last week, I visited Spelman College Museum of Fine Art’s Posing Beauty in African American Culture exhibition. Posing Beauty features over 75 photographs that span 12 decades (1890 to the present). It is the first exhibition I have ever seen that explores and challenges widespread and historic notions of African American beauty in photography. Deborah Willis, Ph.D., served as the curator of Posing Beauty. Willis is one of my favorite authors and photographers. She is also one of leading historians of African American photography.
While exploring the exhibition, I discovered and fell in love with a selection of cabinet cards featuring Spelman College faculty, students, and alumnae. Cabinet cards are photographic portraits mounted on 4 1/4 by 6 1/2 inch cards that people traded with each other in the early 1870s. They reminded me of several cabinet cards I have of my great grandmother Eunice Ann Thomas Roberts.
Social Media Panel featuring Roland Martin, Patricia Cesaire, James Andrews, and Ananda Leeke — Photo Credit: Lauren Brown Jarvis
Greetings All!
Last week was filled with Georgia peach sweet adventures during my trip to Spelman College’s Leadership and Women of Color Conference, a professional development opportunity for women aspiring to be leaders as well as those who are in leadership positions. The conference theme was “Leading with Purpose.” It was organized under the leadership of Dr. Jane E. Smith, Executive Director, Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement at Spelman. Click here to learn more about the conference.
My favorite moments from the conference included:
Hearing Dr. Beverly Tatum speak about composite mentoring during the conference opening.
Interviewing Tiffani Gatlin, founder of Tastemaker Magazine on day one of the conference. Click here to listen to the interview.
Attending the Book Fair and speaking with my digital sister Deborah Owens, “The Wealth Coach,” about her book, A Purse of Your Own (and having her sign my copy of the book!)
Hearing Dr. Tatum talk about H.O.P.E. = Having Optimism Produces Effort. Timeless wisdom!
Chatting with Dr. Nicole LaBeach and purchasing her book, A Woman’s True Purpose at the Book Fair (getting the Choose Yourself t-shirt too!).
Meeting people like Nicole Roberts Jones, CEO of iDEFINE, during the Legacy of Leadership Awards Dinner.
Listening to the empowering words of the Legacy of Leadership awardees Shinae Chun, Former Director, Women’s Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor; Evelyn Lowery, Founder, SCLC W.O.M.E.N.; Monica Pearson, News Anchor, WSB-TV, Channel 2; and Vivian Stringer, Women’s Basketball Coach, Rutgers University.
Chatting one-on-one with Vivian Stringer about social media after the Legacy of Leadership Awards Dinner.
Having breakfast with my new digital sister Lynn Shareef, a proud Spelman alumna.
Learning from Dr. Kym Harris, President & CEO, Your SweetSpot Coaching & Consulting, during the Coaching Breakfast.
Being inspired by the Testimonies from the Field session featuring Kathleen McGhee-Anderson (Spelman Alumna), Writer/Producer, TV/Film/Theater; Alisha Thomas Morgan, Georgia State Representative (Spelman Alumna); Tisha Tallman, President & CEO of the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; and Jue Wong, CEO, Astral Health & Beauty, Inc.
Attending a leadership development workshop facilitated by Tai Beauchamp, CEO/On-Air Host, BluePrint Group, LLC.
Meeting Dr. Tatum, Dr. Jane E. Smith, and Patricia Cesaire, Director of Social Media at Black Enterprise.
Seeing the Faith Ringgold exhibit at the Spelman Museum of Fine Art during one of the breaks. AWESOME! Ms. Ringgold is one of my favorite artists. Love her memoir too!
Hanging out with some of my favorite social media peeps: Lauren Brown Jarvis (Spelman student), Lauren Thomas, and James and Sherrelle Andrews.
Sharing my experiences and lessons learned as a blogger and the Digital Sisterhood Network founder during the Social Media Panel.
Spending time with the awesome Spelman Media team: Tomika DePriest, Terrilyn Simmons, Joyce Davis, and Kia Smith
Meeting my new NYC sistalove Theresa at the end of the conference and chatting about our favorite moments.
Social Media Panel – James Andrews, Ananda Leeke, Patricia Cesaire, and Roland Martin
On day two of the conference, I served as a panelist for the Social Media Panel – Purposeful Posts: How Social Media Can Shape Your Leadership Brand. Click here to learn more about the panel discussion. Journalist Roland Martin moderated the panel. Patricia Cesaire, Director of Social Media at Black Enterprise, and James Andrews, Founder of SocialPeople.TV, served as panelists. During the panel discussion, I shared my experiences as a blogger and the Digital Sisterhood Network founder, insights on taking care of yourself online with a digital diet, tips on how to use social media tools, and the power of women online.
Check out several tweets about my comments below.
Lynn Shareef@lynnshareef
#anandaleeke it’s about the quality of the social media conversation
SC Women of Color @SpelmanWOCConf
.@anandaleeke advises us to take good care of ourselves. You can overdose on social media. Go on a social diet. #SpelmanWOCC#fb
#spelmanwocc woman are a powerful presence in the digital world #anandaleeke digital sisterhood! 69million strong
Jacquie Hood Martin@Jhoodmartin
#AnandaLeeke says take time away from social media as not to become ‘a social media schizophrenic’ it’s ok to back away #SpelmanWOCC
Jacquie Hood Martin@Jhoodmartin
Women view the Internet like its ‘social tv’ we use it as a mean of community and connectivity says #AnandaLeeke#SpelmanWOCC
Here are more photos from the conference. Enjoy!
Ananda, Joyce Davis, and James Andrews
Roland Martin and Tomika DePriestTastemaker Magazine founder Tiffini Gatlin and AnandaTai Beauchamp’s Leadership Development WorkshopAnanda and Deborah Owens
Guess who is going to speak at Spelman College in May? Yours truly! I AM SUPER EXCITED! It will be my second time speaking at Spelman. Last year, I spoke at the Digital Doyennes event sponsored by Spelman’s Digital Moving Image Salon and the Women in Film & Television Atlanta.
The Leadership and Women of Color Conference begins on May 16 with an opening session on Leading with Purpose and the Legacy of Leadership Awards Dinner. A networking breakfast, opening session with testimonies from the field, and panel discussions, and workshops will be held on May 17. Click here to see the full schedule.
Speakers include Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, Dr. Jane E. Smith, Tai Beauchamp, Josefina Bonilla, Henna Inam, Angela Fletcher, Katherine Giscombe, Kym A. Harris, Nicole Roberts Jones, Kathleen McGhee-Anderson, Rep. Alisha Thomas Morgan, Deborah Owens, and Andrea Riggs. Click here to register for the conference.
India.Arie’s music has been a powerful influence in my creative work. Her first CD AcousticSoul (2001) inspired me to keep moving forward during my novel writing journey.
I mentioned the song in Love’s Troubadours because India’s music chronicles a woman’s journey of self-discovery. It vibrates with authenticity and vulnerability. Surrender and self-acceptance are key themes. Love’s Troubadours embodies all of these things. Karma’s journey explores a woman’s pain, passion, and power with authenticity, vulnerability, surrender, and self-acceptance. To learn more, visit www.lovestroubadours.com. The book is available on Amazon.com.
Spelman College is also featured in Love’s Trouabdours. Several characters are Spelman graduates (Karma’s twin sister and cousin are Spelmanites). To learn more about Spelman, watch the video below.
Spelman College Museum of Fine Art is mentioned in Love’s Troubadours too. Watch the video below featuring a tour of the Museum given by its director Dr. Andrea Barnwell , an art historian, writer, and critic. I was able to visit the Museum and see the exhbit featured in the video in October 2009. AMAZING!
FYI – Art plays a major role in Karma’s life. It inspires, consoles, and teaches her. My novel offers you a wonderful opportunity to look at life through Karma’s eyes as an art enthusiast and museum curator. Through her eyes, you will learn about exciting artists and photographers from the African Diaspora, Americas (USA and Mexico), Europe, and Japan such as Lois Mailou Jones, Kara Walker, Renee Stout, Yayoi Kusama, Faith Ringgold, Chris Ofili, Ansel Adams, Marion Perkins, Elizabeth Catlett, Francisco Mora, Alexander Calder, Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Maria Izquierdo, Jean Michel Basquiat, Andre Derain, Annie Lee, Betye Saar, Alison Saar, Amalia Amaki, Joyce Scott, Lorna Simpson, Constantin Brancusi. Eldzier Cortor, Amedeo Modigliani, Sister Gertrude Morgan, Archibald Motley, Adrian Piper, Hughie Lee Smith, and Charles W. White. Read the art blog post: http://kiamshacom.blogspot.com/2007/09/blessings-all-my-debut-novel-loves.html.
Enjoy your day!
Peace, Creativity, Compassion, and Gratitude for India.Arie and Spelman College,
I spent last week in Atlanta. While I was in the ATL, I conducted research for my next novel, Love’s Troubadours – Symon: Book Two (2011) on the campus of Morehouse College. I also visited Spelman College and its Museum of Fine Art. Most of my research was captured on video with my Creative Vado camera. I will post the videos early next week.
I also attended Blogalicious (www.blogaliciousweekend.com), the first annual conference for women of color bloggers. It was AMAZING. I will write about the conference and share video interviews and clips from various sessions on Examiner.com this week. I already posted several videos from the conference on Ananda Leeke TV – www.youtube.com/anandaleeke.
Blogalicious inspired me to launch Ananda Leeke Live! on USTREAM, an online show that will give me an opportunity to talk directly with people about my books, artwork, creativity coaching practice, yoga and Reiki services, and social media expertise. The first show airs on November 1, 2009, at 3:00 p.m. EST. It will kick off my online book party for my new book, That Which Awakens Me: A Creative Woman’s Poetic Memoir of Self-Discovery (iUniverse, Inc., 2009). Click here to watch the Ananda Leeke Live! on November 1: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/author-ananda-leeke.
Ananda Leeke 