"I believe one carries the shadows, the dreams, the fears and the dragons of home under one's skin..." ~Maya Angelou
Have you ever been forced to leave your home? As thousands flee embattled streets of Ukraine, and others escape political strife and natural disasters, our writings will explore the myriad realms of displacement - leaving home, losing home and the hope of finding home again. Our uprootedness journey will take us through immigrant pasts, Afghanistan evacuations, Trail of Tears, Japanese internment, Oklahoma's Black Wall Street , Syria, Somalia and Haiti, urban renewal and eminent domain. While we express our longing for home and the sense of it, we acknowledge others who seek the same. Our words can bear witness to a world of 84 million displaced people, 27 million of whom are refugees.
Inspirations: Suheir Hamad, Bonnie Raitt, Traci Kato-Kiriyama, Usha Akela, the Beatles, Elie Wiesel, Jacqueline Woodson, Warsan Shire, Juan Felipe Herrera and Edwidge Dandicat.
Dorothy Randall Gray is author of the bestseller, Soul Between the Lines (Avon/Harper Collins), a recent volume of poetry Sharing the Same Sky, and numerous anthology selections. Her other published works include Muse Blues, Woman, Family, The Passion Collection, and A Taste of Tamarinda. A two year LA Poet-in-Residence Dorothy's "When I Was A Tree" poetry film was awarded Official Selection by the Film & Poetry Video Symposium. Her work is also featured in the upcoming Eve Ensler/Aja Monet production, VOICES. She is a former board member of the International Women's Writing Guild, NPR commentator, and UNESCO delegate. Her workshops have inspired thousands throughout the US, China, Iceland, and India. They have served a variety of audiences including beginning and seasoned writers, graduate and high school students, creative aging groups, and incarcerated populations. A global activist Dorothy is a Hedgebrook Fellow who has shared the dais with the Dalai Lama, performed poetry in Iceland, danced with tribal boys in India, and boogied with James Baldwin in NYC.
