I am continually amazed by my wife, Semaj’s journey as a Broadside Lotus Press Poet, literary artist, educator, performer, inspirational story teller, and curriculum community builder. Her excursion into the world of words began when she was a child; her mother, who you will meet in this book as The Ultraviolet Light of Bessie L. James supplied young Semaj a daily diet of Legacy Poets from Dudley Randall’s Broadside Lotus Press. This diet, among exposure to a vast amount of literature, treks to Strafford Ontario to study Shakespeare, violin lessons, science laboratory basement explorations, visual art classes, museum dwelling, theater, lots of theater, training which taught appreciation for global civilizations through a Pan- African lens, created a literary foundation that has produced a twenty-first century poetic voice of distinction.
I am continually amazed by my wife, Semaj’s journey as a Broadside Lotus Press Poet, literary artist, educator, performer, inspirational story teller, and curriculum community builder. Her excursion into the world of words began when she was a child; her mother, who you will meet in this book as The Ultraviolet Light of Bessie L. James supplied young Semaj a daily diet of Legacy Poets from Dudley Randall’s Broadside Lotus Press. This diet, among exposure to a vast amount of literature, treks to Strafford Ontario to study Shakespeare, violin lessons, science laboratory basement explorations, visual art classes, museum dwelling, theater, lots of theater, training which taught appreciation for global civilizations through a Pan- African lens, created a literary foundation that has produced a twenty-first century poetic voice of distinction.
Semaj’s genius operates on a multitude of magnetic levels, conscious, subconscious, and preconscious, pulling from left and right brain modalities as she is a science driven artist with an undergraduate degree from Wayne State University in Biology. Semaj sees art in science, and science in art, math in writing, health nutrition in visual art, sculpture in economics, and poetry in everything. And further, per her writing craft, background in education and focus on the literary, Semaj develops innovative curriculum, extensive programming for children and adults that reflect an integrated amalgam enlivening discovery of self, while empowering the community. She masterfully inspires the writing of poems throughout all disciplines. It is amazing to watch her educational process unfold.
Semaj wrote our family into vegetarianism through, Feasts and Fables from the Planted Kingdom Story Cookbook and lyrical musical CD, changing my diet, saving my life while she loss 120lbs pledging her Veg- allegiance from Mrs. Brown’s Butterfly Building which is a self- actualization poetry infused program for women created by Semaj. She invented vegetable characters that went on to form the play, Onion Revolt: A Healthy Comedy where I was musical director and Semaj played 14 different characters performing to standing ovations at the Bower Theater hosted by the Flint Youth Theater, (2014).
In 2016, heeding the call of the Detroit Freedom Schools Movement at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Semaj constructed a pop-up science laboratory, seven Biology/Chemistry experiments. I served as medical career consultant to eager students. The atmosphere was completely transformed into science exploration and then returned to a mundane multipurpose room. Earlier in the year, she was the creative director behind the programming funded by The Pierian Foundation: Project Water Us, (2016) that was implemented at Boys and Girls Club of Greater Flint. She
collaborated with Flint Chapter Pierians to implement workshops that revealed how protest art, or art of resistance impacted struggles for freedom and self-determination through the power of poetry/ literature (Semaj Brown), through the lens visual art (Edith Withey), and through the emotion of music (Diane Kirksey). The question, how did each of these art forms impact social justice movements during the Enslavement era of African peoples in America, Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and present day Hip Hop was explored and answered. Returning to the BGC in 2018 with sponsorship from Susan A, Kornfield, who was an inspired giver, Semaj innovated art /science health education programming from Health Collectors™ LLC and the Planted Kingdom Project™ which is a wellness LLC cofounded by me and Semaj— Creating a Vegetable Consciousness™ through Science (Semaj Brown), Craft Work (Rosie Ray Henderson), Visual Art (Edith Withey), Music (Diane Kirksey), and Theater (Billie Scott Lindo). It was mind expanding for
all involved. But mostly, and quite simply, Semaj’s writings, and workshopping erupts the spirit of poetic resilience, imbuing inspiration into PEOPLE.