FEBRUARY 23, 2024 BLACK HISTORY MONTH Parts of my history I want to share some parts of my history with you all, from when I was age three till now. I was a quiet and shy little girl. I was also a fast learner and very obedient to my parents and other adults. At age three, I learned to spell my full name, my mother’s and father’s name, my full address and phone number. My mom wanted me to know these things in case I ever got lost so I’d have a better chance of being reunited with my family. I learned that you could also get into trouble being obedient when I was four years old and in Head Start. I was at the crosswalk to the main entrance of the elementary school that I attended and innocently stated to Blair, the safety patrol boy that lived on the same street as I did, that I was not going to listen to him because my mother taught me how she wanted me to cross the street. He took me to the principal's office pulling me by the left shoulder part of my coat. I was made aware that that was called “insubordination.” I did not get a paddle for that because my cousin came to the office to intervene on my behalf, as she was my teacher and knew that I was just doing what I was taught. Thank God I didn’t get hit with that large piece of wood. Around age nine, me and my cousins would go together to pass out flyers for the United Auto Workers of Michigan. One of my family members was an active participant in the activities of the UAW Hall which was on Wyoming off of McNichols Road back then. She would monitor us from her vehicle as we would return to the car to get more flyers until they all had been distributed. I reckon that that fueled my passion for canvassing which I’ll speak to further into this article. Moving forward to my fifth grade year of elementary school, I played the leading role as Harriet Tubman, which I was very proud to play. I was also teased by some of my classmates. As we all know or learn, children can be very cruel to one another. I would cry about it at times because it made me sad and hurt my feelings, not understanding that it was really a compliment. I was in the spelling bee that year, too. Although I knew how to spell all of the words, I placed fifth in the spelling bee because when I was spelling one particular word, I looked into the audience for support and inspiration from my mom, then got nervous seeing all of those strange faces. I was glad to get off stage even though I said that I would win the spelling bee. Joining Junior Achievement of Southeastern Michigan Division at age 15 bolstered my confidence being in a leadership role. I was voted to be the telemarketing executive of our LA SHAWN COURTWRIGHT Groundcover vendor No. 56 company. I believe that there were three other companies in our division. First step was for everyone in our company to sell our $1 stock certificates for a 10% profit share to our investors. I decided that selling pin buttons was a great idea and my company agreed. We raised the most money from our chosen selling item for our company and won. In June 2008 I began canvassing for Clean Water Action which protected the Great Lakes of Michigan. I was able to make my weekly quota in one day. I was so proud of myself and was awarded a scholarship to attend the canvassers conference in Paducah, Kentucky that year where I met many lobbyists that won against big industry companies. I took a lot of photos at the Canvassers Conference. The cottages we lodged in were beautiful. The one I was in had a floor to ceiling window that revealed the stunning view of a hillside where you could see the orange colored clay and the trees that grew from that orange clay. I’d never seen anything like that before. It was also the place I discovered disc golf. I hope to be able to attend another event as great as this again. A couple years later, I’d often see the vendors selling Groundcover News around the downtown area of Ann Arbor. I was not moved by the idea of selling the paper, but I was eager to become a writer for the paper. In June 2011, I decided to go to the Groundcover office to check it out and to see if I could become a writer for the paper. I was met by volunteer Sandy Schmoker and vendor Rissa Haynes and was told that I could most certainly write for Groundcover News. I acknowledged that I mainly wrote poetry and was told I could publish my poems in Groundcover as well. I recently ran into Sandy on February 13 in downtown Ann Arbor; it was a pleasure to see her again. I miss Rissa’s warm, welcoming smile. I keep her alive in my memories of her. My first published article ‘“No one will hear the silent voice” was published in the July 2011 issue of Groundcover. “No one will hear the silent voice” was written in 10 minutes on the bus. I had to be somewhere, then returned to the Groundcover office to submit my writing and my poem. I didn’t realize how much the article I wrote matched the Groundcover News mission. That confirmed my belief that being a writer for this paper was one of my callings. By this time, Susan Beckett was in the office, too. She told me, ”How nice to have you with our paper.” The first published poem I wrote in March 2004 called “Not helpless, or hopeless, just homeless” was in the July 2011 issue of Groundcover, as well. That was it for me — I’ve been publishing my works in Groundcover News since. I received a scholarship to attend the North American Street Newspaper Association Award ceremony in Nashville, Tennessee in October 2011. There I met Tasha French, the president of NASNA, and Lee Stringer, former street paper editor in New York and author of “Grand Central Winter: Stories from the Street.” I remember me and Mr. Stringer were sitting outside of the building where the ceremony was being held, talking. I asked him about publishing my book, and expressing my concerns about it being published. He told me to just keep the faith. I met John Seiganthaler who was the longtime editor of The Tennessean Newspaper and fought for freedom of speech and consequently founded the First Amendment Center. We lodged for four days and three nights at the Vanderbilt University dorms. That was a college experience while not being in college. The awards ceremony was held in a historical bank building. That was another experience in itself, too. I had taken pictures of the original blueprint of the building and a lot of the artwork exhibited throughout the building. Unfortunately, I lost the phone that the pictures were on and I wasn’t able to retrieve them when I purchased another device. The memories are stored in my mind, though. In November 2011, Vickie Elmer hosted a writers workshop for the Groundcover News writers. She used to write a column for the Washington Post. I thank her for the writing skills that she taught me. I was featured on Michigan Radio in “Stories of the Homeless Writers with Kyle Norris” in January 2012. It was very fun working with Kyle on this interview. I did another interview with her before she was no longer with WUOM. People have done things for Groundcover on my behalf like Patrick Morgan who assisted in writing the proposal for the technologies fund that was for computers and office supplies. Terri Jones from the Michigan State University Extension facilitated two anger management courses free of charge. I am proud that I impressed these people in a way that led to them offering their services to Groundcover News. GROUNDCOVER NEWS 11 My experience on the CTN television FYI 1002 segment with Dana Denha, Lindsay Calka and myself, La Shawn Courtwright, was a challenge, but I was very proud of the way that the interview turned out. I am glad that I was able to give a broader perspective on what it is to be homeless. I have also authored a book of poetry in November 2019 titled “The Fold-A Collection of Poetry.” It is sold at the Blackstone Bookstore located at 214 W. Michigan Avenue, Ypsilanti. You may also purchase it online on Barnes and Noble, E-books, Apple i-Tunes, Kindle Store, Kobo, Google Play Books, Amazon, RedShelf, Wild Rumpus, eBay, Grit City Books, iMusic.co, bookshop.org, Dymocks, Flipkart, Adlibris and elefant.md. This is an excellent read, so please get your copy as soon as possible. Thank you! Before my accident I was learning about audio/videography, at CTN of Ann Arbor with Jamie Chiu. I was featured on Soapbox on September 26, 2022. I look forward to returning to learn radio broadcasting, TV production and about Greenroom. Hopefully I will be back at it before this year is out. My most monumental embarkment was my plan to travel alone and to be the only female from Groundcover News to attend the Poor People's Campaign Moral March on Washington D.C. I began my trip by train June 18, 2022, because it would take me two days to get from Ann Arbor to Union Station. Of course you have to consider there to be delays, which there were two — one in Ohio and one in Philly. Check out the beautiful pic I took of the Appalachian Mountains through the Shenandoah Valley. I arrived at Union Station one hour before my family picked me up, and then went off to Baltimore, Md. I spent two days enjoying Curt and Star. I enjoyed going to the Inner Habor by the Mariner watching the boats go by. On the morning of the March, I took the train back to D.C. and walked to see the Capital and the Washington Monument. I called Joe Woods and found him amongst the crowd. We then located Jay Gordon and Derek Allen and enjoyed the day and the people taking pictures. My favorite was the one in front of the African American Museum where I stood in front of the building and the fountains which sprout their own ballet. After the exuberance and excitement of the day, what better way to spend the night than at the Garden Hill Hotel on M and Third Street? They had gorgeous rooms, a pool, washers and dryers and room service. I had to take a photo in front of the bell at Union Station! As I hope you learned by reading this article, I am a multidimensional person with diverse interests and abilities that I like to put to good use.
12 Publizr Home