Kameisha Jerae Hodge
Kameisha Jerae | |
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Kameisha Jerae on a photoshoot | |
Born |
Washington, D.C., USA | November 1, 1989
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Lafayette College |
Occupation | Author, Writer, Poet, Spoken Word Artist |
Kameisha Jerae Hodge (pronounced /kəmiːʃə dʒɛreɪ hɒdʒ/; born on November 1, 1989) is an African-American writer from Washington, D.C. Rising to prominence in 2007, her activity in the literary and media communities became promising. She became locally recognized and continued writing - delving mostly into journalism and creative writing. Yolonda Coleman discovered Hodge's talents in 2005 and placed her as the Editor-In-Chief for Friendship Collegiate Academy Public Charter School's Knight Vision Newspaper where, from there, her work appeared in national media including MTV,[1] NPR, and Georgetown Journal of Law & Modern Critical Race Perspectives, just to name a few. In 2010, Kameisha's first collection of poetry, Atlas of Consciousness, was published. Four year later her second collection, Double Consciousness, topped Amazon's charts as a #1 Bestseller on Kindle. As of now, Kameisha is working on her newest book Unconsciousness which was set to be released in November 2015.
Biography
Kameisha is the first-born child to an eighteen-year-old couple who had just graduated from District of Columbia public high schools. Their names are Sabrina Hodge and Aron Cunningham. While her father was inactive in her life, it did not seem to bother her that her mother single-handedly raised her and two of her siblings (DeAndre Hodge and Jonae Hodge), but it did bother her that her father took a minimal role in her life, and the lives of a few of the older children that Aron helped conceive.[2] Living in Washington, D.C. up until the eighth grade, Kameisha moved with her fraternal grandparents and sister, where she became a volunteer for the Columbia Park / Kentland Community Center. Moving back with her mother a year later, she signed up with the Department of Employment Services' Youth Employment Program and worked at the Office of the Attorney General as a File Clerk, with Friendship Collegiate Academy Public Charter School as an Advanced Placement Literature and Composition Intern, and finally as an Editor and Reporter for Rated-T Magazine.
While at Lafayette, Hodge has been dedicated to youth advocacy by working at the DC Public Library as a journalism instructor, and volunteer reading buddy for 6- to 10-year-olds for the Book Buddies program. She also had been skilled enough to work at MTV in the department that catered specifically to shows on the N network. She also was the founder and president of Lafayette College's Precision Step Team, first president of the African and Caribbean Interest Floor[3] on the executive boards for the Association of Black Collegians, W.O.R.D.S. (Writing Organization Reaching Dynamic Students), and a member of NIA (Women's Empowerment). She also had co-hosted a show with DJ Spyda Da Don on the college's radio station, WJRH 104.9, and worked as a student employee. Because of her drive and passion for creating an environment that catered to the Arts, passion for writing, and Black solidarity, Hodge was featured on Lafayette College's webpage several times,[4] in addition to their YouTube channel,[5] and McDonough Network Publications.
Education
Kameisha has attended nine schools throughout the duration of her life, these schools included Ephriam Kimball Elementary School, John Phillip Sousa Middle School, Bertie Backus Middle School, General G. James Gholson Middle School, Bladensburg High School, Potomac High School, Friendship Collegiate Academy Public Charter School and the University of District of Columbia simultaneously as a student in the Early College Program, and received a Bachelor's Degree in the Arts at Lafayette College. She double majored in English and Africana Studies. She is currently obtaining her Master's Degree in English and Creative Writing at Southern New Hampshire University.
Awards and publications
- Poetry.com's Poems and Poets of the Year Award Recipient (2007)
- Poetry.com's Editor's Choice Award Recipient (2007, 2008)
- International Academy of the Visual Arts' Silver Communicator Award Recipient (2008)
- Featured Highlight at the National Journalism Conference for the Society of Professional Journalists (2008)
- Published in the Georgetown Journal of Law & Modern Critical Race Perspectives: Inaugural Edition [6]
- Published Atlas of Consciousness (2010)[2]
- Published in Brian Wrixon’s The Poetry of War and Peace (2012)
- Café De La Pensee’s Global Writing Competition Winner (2012)
- Published in World Poetry Movement’s Stars in Our Hearts (2012)
- Published #1 Bestseller Double Consciousness (2014)[2]
References
- ↑ Think.MTV
- 1 2 3 Hodge, Kameisha Jerae. Atlas of Consciousness. Xlibris, 2010.
- ↑ African and Caribbean Interest Floor at Lafayette College
- ↑ Lafayette College Features Kameisha Jerae in Student Profile
- ↑ Lafayette College Features Kameisha Jerae
- ↑ Georgetown Journal of Law & Modern Critical Race Perspectives: Inaugural Edition, Georgetown University Press, 2008.
External links
- Kameisha Jerae's Official Website
- Kameisha Jerae's Official Facebook Fan Page
- Kameisha Jerae's Official Twitter Page