2024 Kweli Color of Children’s Literature Pre-Conference Event
with JACQUELINE WOODSON and AUTUMN ALLEN
Saturday, October 21, 2023
at Ballet Hispanico, NYC
Jacqueline Woodson, Autumn Allen and Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz
ARTISTS
JACQUELINE WOODSON
Jacqueline Woodson is the recipient of a 2020 MacArthur Fellowship, the 2020 Hans Christian Andersen Award, the 2018 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, and the 2018 Children’s Literature Legacy Award, and she was the 2018–2019 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. Her New York Times bestselling memoir, Brown Girl Dreaming, won the National Book Award, as well as the Coretta Scott King Award, a Newbery Honor, and the NAACP Image Award. She also wrote the adult books Red at the Bone, a New York Times bestseller, and Another Brooklyn, a 2016 National Book Award finalist. Her dozens of books for young readers include Coretta Scott King Award and NAACP Image Award winner Before the Ever After, New York Times bestsellers The Year We Learned to Fly, The Day You Begin, and Harbor Me, Newbery Honor winners Feathers, Show Way, and After Tupac and D Foster, and the picture book Each Kindness, which won the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award.
AUTUMN ALLEN
Autumn Allen is an educator and a senior editor at Barefoot Books. She leads youth literature circles and teaches children’s literature at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She holds graduate degrees in education, children’s literature, and writing for children from Harvard University and Simmons University. Her picture books, Step on Board: Sculpting a Memorial to Harriet Tubman, illustrated by Ekua Holmes, and Answered Prayers, will be published by Knopf. All You Have to Do is her debut novel. Autumn grew up in Boston and lives in Massachusetts with her family. Visit her website at AutumnAllenBooks.com.
YOLANDA SEALEY-RUIZ
Dr. Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz is an award-winning Associate Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research focuses on racial literacy in teacher education, Black girl literacies, and Black and Latinx male high school students. A sought-after speaker on issues of race, culturally responsive pedagogy, and diversity, Sealey-Ruiz works with K-12 and higher education school communities to increase their racial literacy knowledge and move toward more equitable school experiences for their Black and Latinx students. Sealey-Ruiz appeared in Spike Lee’s “2 Fists Up: We Gon’ Be Alright”, a documentary about the Black Lives Matter movement and the campus protests at Mizzou. Her co-authored book [with Dr. Detra Price-Dennis] Advancing Racial Literacies in Teacher Education: Toward Activism for Equity in Digital Spaces was published in April 2021. Her first full-length collection of poetry Love from the Vortex & Other Poems (Kalediscope Vibrations LLC) was published in March, 2020, and her sophomore book of poetry, The Peace Chronicles was released in July 2021.
RODNEY HAMILTON
Rodney Hamilton began his training in his native St. Louis at several schools including Carr Lane V.P.A., the Center of Contemporary Arts, and Alexandra School of Ballet. He also studied with Ms. Katherine Dunham and joined the chorus at the MUNY where he performed for seven years. After arriving in New York City, he graduated with a BFA in Dance from the Juilliard School and joined Ballet Hispánico where he was a principal dancer and assistant rehearsal director for 10 years. Mr. Hamilton holds an MFA in Dance from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. He has taught ballet, modern, and Dunham technique all over the world. Mr. Hamilton is happy to be returning home to Ballet Hispánico as a faculty member at the School of Dance and to take on the role of BHdos Rehearsal Director.
MIA BERMUDEZ
Mia Bermudez is a aspiring artist born and raised in Montclair, New Jersey. Her training began at nine years old at Ballet Hispánico’s School of Dance studying under the La Academia Pre-Professional Program with merit scholarship. Studying at the highest level of the school, Mia has trained in Spanish dance, Ballet, and various styles of modern under teachers such as Nicole Duffy, Yvonne Gutierrez, and Rodney Hamilton. At Ballet Hispánico, she has performed at the 2021 Macys Thanksgiving Parade, the Apollo Theatre for Performances for Young People, and at the Ballet Hispánico Gala. Mia has also studied at numerous intensives such as the Debbie Allen Dance Academy and La Escuela Nacional de Ballet de Cuba. She is a recent graduate from Montclair High School and is passionate and eager to grow in her artistry as a dancer and striving professional.
