Authors

Ayin M. Adams, a native New Yorker, began writing poetry at age five and selling them on her street corner in Brooklyn for 25 cents. She is winner of the Pat Parker Memorial Poetry Prize, the Audre Lorde Memorial Prose Prize, nominated as Poet of the Year, winner of the President’s Award For Literary Excellence,…

Daphne Barbee-Wooten is an attorney in Hawai`i. She served as President of African American Lawyers Association in 2003. She has practiced law for over 30 years and is active in law, politics, writing, and dance. Her book African American Attorneys in Hawai`i describes the lively, colorful history of African American attorneys with ties to the islands, from…

Donté Clark is a poet, actor, and community activist from the neighborhood of North Richmond, in Richmond, California. He works with youth organizations throughout the Richmond area. In July 2014, Clark, along with Lincoln Bergman and Brenda Quintanilla, were made Poets Laureate of Richmond for a two-year period. As a student in high school, Clark was recruited by…

Karla Brundage is a Bay Area based poet, activist, and educator with a passion for social justice. Born in Berkeley, California, Karla spent most of her childhood in Hawai`i, where she developed a deep love of nature. She is the founder of West Oakland to West Africa Poetry Exchange (WO2WA), which has facilitated cross-cultural exchange between Oakland and…

Kathryn Waddell Takara, Professor Emerita, is the recipient of the 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award by the Honolulu NAACP as an “Agent of Change.” In 2010, she was honored by the Before Columbus Foundation for her book Pacific Raven: Hawai’i Poems. Dr. Takara is the daughter of pioneer black veterinarian, author, and world-famous Buffalo Soldier, Dr.…

Judge Simms was born in Chicago, Illinois. She is a graduate of Hyde Park High School, and obtained a B.A. from the University of Illinois, Chicago with a major in Sociology and Political Science. She was appointed to the First Circuit Court, Twelfth Division, in May 1994. Prior to her appointment to the Circuit Court,…