Tia Stewart's Colors of a Man Book Blog

Readers Guide for Colors of a Man, Tribute to African-American Men

2010-04-05T06:58:00.000-07:00

Readers Guide
Colors of a Man, Tribute to African-American Men by Tia Stewart

1. The poem “Black” talks about the perfect man with his obvious flaws, and his woman’s newborn love and devotion for him. Do you think that African-American love relationships get accurately portrayed in the media?

2. The author compares African-American men to priceless masterpiece paintings. Denzel Washington is famously known for winning the Oscar for “Training Day”, which portrayed him in a negative media image. Are there enough positive media images on mainstream media daily of African-American men? Examine the films that African-Americans have won Oscars for and decide if their portrayal of these roles contributed to a negative or positive image of African-Americans.

3. Can this book apply to only African-American men or can the poems apply to any man from any culture or race?

4. The poem “Godiva Chocolate” highlights prominent African-Americans. General Collin Powell is mentioned. How did his almost daily television media appearances during the Gulf war prepare the world for the election of President Barack Obama, as the first African-American president?

5. How do you feel that the African-American culture has “honorary members” like former President Bill Clinton and Steven Biko? Does it dilute or enhance cultural pride?

6. What do the Harlem Renaissance Writers like Zora Neale Hurston,and Langston Hughes,leave as a legacy to the new millennium writers and poets of today? Langston Hughes in his poem "Harlem" is credited for the famous line from the play "A Raisin in the Sun" about a struggling family in Harlem; "What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun..". Read the entire poem "Harlem" by Langston and decide if the dreams of most African-American men have been deferred?

7. The poem “White” talks about one of the first documented interracial relationships between a Caucasion man and an African-American woman. President Thomas Jefferson, while American ambassador to France took his slave Sally Hemings to France with him for several years. Was it just an affair or real love? Did this relationship affect his writing of The Declaration of Independence?

8. The poems “Collateral Damage”, “Boys Stink”, “Arrogance” and “Excuses” are the domestic violence poems. Has domestic violence gotten worse or are we male-bashing if we continue to spotlight the negatives of men?

9. Do African-American celebrities involved in domestic violence incidents get more negative media attention? Did OJ Simpson and Chris Brown get judged by the media? Did Tiger Woods suffer the same death by the media?

10. Claude Brown’s book Manchild in the Promise Land is a hidden metaphor in the poem “Olive”. How has Harlem changed since the book was written in the 1960’s? Is it more difficult to be a young male child in Harlem today?

11. Dorothy Height, Marian Anderson, and Marian Wright Edelman are hidden metaphors in the poem “Chocolate Chips” a poem about two married lovers. Why do you think the author included these revolutionary women in this love poem? Research the biographies of these woman and see how they changed history and made the world a better place for all people of color artists, and children.

12. African-Americans have struggled with identity issues and still today the 2010 Census lists the word “Negro” as an acceptable term for African-Americas. In the poem “Yellow” and “White” the author uses terms such as mullato, light-skinned, half-breed. Has the racial divide that started with house slaves versus field slaves mentality still persisting today?

13. Prison incarceration rates and literacy rates get spotlighted in the poem “Green”. What do you think about the lines from the poem that says,

“He was the one that was incarcerated.
Incarcerated in a culture, that says to be
Successful,
You had to be drug dealer, an addict,
Incarcerated in a culture that buys video games, but never books.
Incarcerated in a nation that says it is okay not to read;
But just play ball if you are black male child in America.”…from the poem, “Green”

14. The author’s lists her favorite charities that assist with literacy, children, medical missions, and education.
President Kennedy is famously known for his inaugural challenge, to “Ask not what your country, can do for you, but what can you do for your country”. What ways can you make your country better and make the life of all people of color better?

Intimate Conversation with Tia Stewart, Award-Winning Poet and Novelist

2010-03-24T02:24:00.000-07:00

Intimate Conversation with Tia Stewart, Poet and Novelist

1. Introduce us to your latest published work. What style is it?

Colors of a Man, Tribute to African-American Men is a sexy, romantic freestyle poetry collection that entertains, excites, enthralls,enlightens, and educates. Men are compared to colors. This book comes with an accompanying neo-soul, jazzy, hip-hop poetry CD/MP3.

2. At what age or point in life did you unlock your gift for poetry?

I discovered my ability for writing in fifth grade. I wanted to write magazine articles for Ebony Jr at age eleven. One of my girlfriends was working on a novel in fifth grade and I use to edit her writings. A few years ago, I worked nights on a 24 hour Nurse Advice line for an insurance company, and a fellow poet, encouraged me to start writing poetry. Working the night shift, gave me the solitude to delve into poetry, and I rediscovered my dream of writing. My writer/boyfriend at the time had written a screenplay, so I wrote the poem "Black" for his birthday present in 2007; he always encouraged my writings. “Black” was my first poem, that won critical acclaim. All my clients and friends loved that poem. I performed “Collateral Damage” at an open mic summer 2009 at The Canal Club, in Richmond, Virginia, and people started asking about my book. So I collected all my poems and Colors of a Man, Tribute to African-American Men was published for Christmas 2009.

3. What moved you to begin writing?

The best of the poetry came out of the worst of personal tragedy. I ran a successful bail bonding company, in Richmond, Virginia called Big Momma Bail Bonds. One of my fellow bail bondsman, James Woolfolk and good friends was murdered. Really wonderful person, always smiling and his family ran a soul food restaurant within walking distance of Richmond City Jail. Most of my bail bonding business had me in more rural, country parts of Virginia, and I spent most of my time shopping and eating fried chicken with my cousins. We had a funny, competitive rivalry between the city bondsman and the country bondsman. He cooked at the restaurant, and was always trying to feed me (Smile).

As a bondsman, you spend alot of time with the magistrates, police officers, judges, and court officials, and between them and my family, everybody really wanted me to stop because of safety issues after his death. I started writing poetry to deal with all the loss. My mother was the first female African-American police office in Virginia, in the seventies, so I grew up around law enforcement all my life. Many of my college friends, colleagues, and family are DEA, ATF, CIA ,FBI and Secret Service, so I know many people in criminal justice. As a military brat, I loved the adventure of being a bail bondsman. I attended high school and college in Detroit and Chicago. I even attended medical school for one year at Michigan State University before becoming a full-time mommy. My writings, for the poetry and the novels, come from all these experiences.

4. Does your work offer a glimpse into your philosophy of life?

Colors of a Man, the title came about because I thought the brothers were getting a bad rap. I had finally learned the lesson that my grandmother was trying to teach me; Men are not God, they make mistakes. Most men just need you to spotlight the good points. God makes each of us a wonderful masterpiece, somewhat flawed. But still each of us is an artistic masterpiece.

I starting comparing men and woman to colors in my poetry. We all start out just like the simple colors on an artist’s palette, like white, yellow, red; and end up irreplaceable like a priceless painting hanging in an art gallery.

Most men, whether judge, criminal or preacher, want to be a good father and take care of their family. It is time to solidify the family. You cannot have it all as a woman. You have to set your family as your priority, but not lose yourself. It is a delicate balancing act for most women. Men and children require your attention. Setting a firm boundary for family time is essential. Taking "me time" is critical for self-preservation for all women. We love to cook pastries and home-made pizza at my house. Cooking and working out at the YMCA together are our family activities. My “me time” is time spent at the hair and nail salon, massages, and shopping.

5. Does your writing offer refuge or healing in its form of expression?

Healing and refuge. I tried to capture the experiences of African-Americans from a female perspective. In my writings, I give a glimpse of being African-American and what that truly means. My paternal great-grandmother, Nellie Coleman, was born a slave, and she died when I was nine. She was 88, blind with diabetes, but this brilliant, gentle force. She had never learned to read. My paternal grandmother, Annie Mae Stewart worked as a domestic and seamstress. She loved everything and everybody. “Mae-Mae” as we all called her, had only completed fifth grade. Amazingly, she was an excellent reader. Her heartfelt desire was that I attend college and get all the education that she never had an opportunity to get.

My writings are an amalgamation of this multi-generational experience of being an African-American woman through the centuries. My children have been afforded the luxury of public, private, and home-schooled education, and even have family ties to Kenya and Nigeria. So we seemed to have come full circle, and I am excited about taking the children back to the African continent to truly understand their African ancestry. I love to travel and my writings take you to many different countries such as Kenya, Brazil, Bahamas, London, Tanzania, Thailand, Jamaica, South Africa, and St. Lucia.

6. What has been the main literary or cultural influences on your poetry?

The Harlem renaissance writers such as James Baldwin, Richard Wright, and Zora Neal Hurston gave me a foundation for literature at an early age. I am avid reader. Writers Claude Brown, Lorraine Hansberry, Maya Angelou, Nikki Giovanni, and Ntozake Shange influenced my poetry in high school. They made me proud to be a “colored girl.” Terry McMillan, Alice Walker, and Bebe Moore Campbell influenced my writings in college, because they spotlighted the difficulties of balancing work, family, and your dreams. Hometown writers, Nikki Turner and Stacy Hawkins Adams are polar opposites in writing, but give me exposure to the totality of this experience as an African-American female. Zane has pushed the female sexual revolution to the next level and made men understand it is important to cater to your woman both in and out of bed. As a poet,novelist and RN; I appreciate Zane's openness about sexuality, and hopefully, this new millenium generation of writers will bring exposure to family issues such as faith, marriage, celibacy, adultery, men's sexual health, and female sexual health. My poetry has references and hidden metaphors to many of the entire genre of talented African-American writers.

7. Does your writing depict the struggles of our people or show the world how we love?
(Laughing) I am the love poet. I “make rainbows out of rain” is what one of my reviewers said. My father died when I was five from complications of diabetes, so I have always been able to retreat into this fantasy world, where I get to make my own characters. Fiction writing and especially poetry lets you write about all the different types of love. Love between a man and a woman. Love between a brother and a sister. Love between a mother and a child. Love of country. Love for God. Love for mankind.

I write from how I view the world. I am a mother, sister, daughter, granddaughter, cousin, nurse, entrepreneur, girlfriend, sister-friend, neighbor, poet, novelist, and world citizen. I value faith and family. My grandmother and her sisters were close. I have at least 500 second, third and fourth cousins. I have cousins who graduated from Harvard University and Princeton University, and cousins selling drugs on the corner, as a means of economic survival. I have been in the housing projects as a bail bondsman and a visiting nurse, and the country clubs as a writer. But somebody struggled so that I could go to the country club and attend universities such as Northwestern University, and University of Michigan. So I write about struggles also. Illiteracy, domestic violence, mental illness, substance, and domestic violence, access to healthcare,and prison incarceration get a spotlight in my books.

Additionally, I also have a concealed weapon permit. I have a book about healing prayers that I used as a nurse. I am the new millennium African-American woman. Gun-toting, and praying. See why they call me Big Momma?

8. Do you feel as if poetry is a performance art?

All poetry is meant to be heard. When I write my poetry, I decide if it is going to be a performance piece or not. Performance pieces have a message, they are meant to be spoken out loud. Performance pieces must possess “swag.” Some the Richmond rappers are helping me develop my “poetry swag” and poet’s bravado. Shakespeare was the original rapper. His writings had rhyme and rhythm. Jill Scout at her concerts does the blending of music and poetry, so well. My poetry is meant to be played on your MP3 or CD player. The words of the poem should intoxicate and hypnotize you to a different space. A good poem has some signature words or uses a new expression.

My poems that I write for publication come from a different space. I make sure that each letter makes love to the paper, as I write it down. Each letter has a place and a purpose, and needs to be doing something in order to stay in the poem. Poems tell the story. Paper poems have a typography and symmetry of word and a different type of literary purpose.

9. What makes you powerful as a person and a writer?

God gives me the power. Writing is a gift from Him. I write in numerous genres. One day I may write a poem. The next day I can write a prayer. Most people fail to realize that the Books of Psalms, Proverbs, and Songs of Solomon are the poetry and romance books of the Bible. The next day, I may write something more sensual. I attended medical school so, I am very anatomically correct when I write. My readers tend to interpret that as erotic.

I love literary devices such as alliteration, echopation and metaphors. African-American writers have a mandate to teach the craft of writing as well as entertain. My writings are meant to educate as well. The Colors of a Man series of poetry books and novels excites, entertains, enthralls and educates.

10. What literary legacy do you leave our future readers and leaders?

I want my great-grandchildren to remember that at one time, we, African-American women were property, and bred like horses. We were legally forbidden to read and write. Education gave me the foundation to dream. My legacy is that I am my great-grandma Rebecca’s wildest dream; college-educated, writing about love, faith, and everyday struggles of being a woman, and living in the suburbs with weekly manicures, spa days, hair salon days, monthly massages, health club membership, shopping trips, fine dining, international travel, and paid help occasionally.

From playing croquet with my writing colleagues at the Country Club of Virginia, to doing poetry open-mics with the rappers to hanging out with Virginia’s most notorious bounty-hunters, I will write about it all in my series of books, Colors of a Man.

11. Share with us your latest news, awards or upcoming book releases.

Colors of a Man, Tribute to African-American Men won the Readers Views 2009 Literary Awards, and Reviewers Choice first place poetry and the Book Hitch Award for Most Innovative Book of poetry.

I will be at National Black Book Festival in Houston and also Book Expo America in New York May 2010.

“Green Caviar”, my first romantic suspense novel is due for release late summer 2010 about my heroine, Angela, a well paid tobacco lawyer, her rapper boyfriend, Nick and her best friend Big Momma, the bail bondsman.

12. How can our readers reach you online? Share with us your online contact info.

Drop by my website and listen to some of my poetry.
http://www.TiaStewart.com

Be my friend on FACEBOOK.
http://facebook.com/colorsofaman

Follow me on Twitter.

http://twitter.com/colorsofaman

Subscribe to my blog
http://colorsofaman.blogspot.com

Purchase book at
http://www.booksamillion.com/product/9781432738181

Colors of a Man by Tia Stewart (Paperback): booksamillion.com

2010-03-23T23:12:00.000-07:00

Colors of a Man by Tia Stewart (Paperback): booksamillion.com

Colors of a Man Book Trailer at OneTrueMedia.com

2010-03-12T19:13:00.001-08:00

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Colors of a Man Book Trailer at OneTrueMedia.com

2010-01-10T22:26:00.001-08:00

Colors of a Man Tribute to African-American Men by Tia Stewart available at your favorite bookstores.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

"Noir Black" from Colors of a Man, Tribute to African-American Men Speaks to the Nuances of African-American Relationships

2009-12-21T20:32:00.000-08:00

"Noir Black" is the award-winning poem from the poetry book, Colors of a Man, Tribute to African-Amercan Men by Tia Stewart.

"I really needed to write a book and dedicate it to the brothers. I am surrounded by heroic, intelligent, and loving brothers everyday. I needed to let the world know that African-American men make good sons, mentors, role models, boyfriends,and husbands." Each poem in the book depicts a different type of "love affair" relationship that I encounter everyday", says noted new poet and novelist, Tia Stewart.

"There is nothing that compares to the love,respect,admiration, and support when an African-American man treats you well and you can truly feel the love. All that type of love gives wings to your dreams. I am so blessed to have relatives,friends,and loved ones who have always shown me that "black love" that you only see in the movies" says new author, Tia Stewart.

Noir Black Intro
"Noir Black" is a poem about a black man and a black women whom seem to communicate in two different languages and who must deal with everyday struggles while seeking to maintain a healthy loving relationship.

We often put on a mask and pretend that everything is okay. African-American men must be "men of steel" and super heroes like Superman to deal with all the responsibilities of multi-generational families.

African-American women often portray a stern exterior and only show the fragilities of their human heart with their beloved and betrothed.

Noir Black

Tread softly on my heart.
Don’t be mislead by my armor of steel.
I am daughter, mother, and sister.

It is a façade that I keep up to survive.
She whispered.

Death comes to those who appear too soft.
Death of the young eager heart.
Death of the young mother who hopes.
Death for the dreams for her young.
Death of the child-like admiration that her heart holds for him.

Tread softly on my heart.
The armor protects the heart, the mind and the man.
The heart that protects the offspring.
I am son, father, and brother
He whispered.
The armor that protects the child of the offspring.
The multigenerational mind that protects and shelters.
He comes for the weak.

Tread softly on my heart,
They said in unison.
Two minds mold into one heart.
Strong and malleable.
Not timid but Herculean.
Formidable, as steel.
Man of steel.

Tread softly on my heart.
Tread lightly in the paths of those that
Came before you.

Tread a path of your own.
Tread softly on this heart.
I am your reflection.

(c)2009 Tia Stewart from the book, Colors of a Man, Tribute to African-American Men

Visit the author at http://www.TiaStewart.com

Available online at Books A Million, Amazon.com and Barnes and Nobles

Happy Thanksgiving from Colors of a Man Press

2009-11-26T10:43:00.001-08:00

Mighty Oak

They had Plymouth Rock, We had Emancipation oak,

They feared the "Indians", We, the Klansmen and their cloaks,

Thanksgiving at Jamestown, Obama with his Hope cloak.

The first Blacks were indentured servants, some initially, thought he was a joke.

We arrived here free but with a debt to pay,

Now, He's chilling at the White House, drinking a Coke,

Happy Thanksgiving, from the Whitehouse, aka "The Black House".

Author Bio

Tia Stewart is a professional writer. She is a proud native of Petersburg, Virginia, and her adopted hometowns, Detroit, Michigan and Norfolk, Virginia. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Mocha Moms, the Science Museum of Virginia, North Carolina Aquariums, and The Dooley Society, Maymont Foundation in Richmond, Virginia.

She was born November 3, 1963 in Petersburg, Virginia. Always an advocate for private Christian and home- school instruction, Ms Stewart is a parochial school graduate of Detroit Benedictine High School.

Ms. Stewart spent a year as an Americorps Vista volunteer, at the Greater Capital Area Literacy Coalition in Lansing, Michigan, where her projects were family, migrant, and healthcare literacy under former first lady, Barbara Busch's campaign for literacy.

Ms Stewart is the mother of four lovely children, Ariana, Austin, Alexander, and Armand, all who reside in Chesterfield County, Virginia.

Ms. Stewart is a Registered Nurse, and also a very proud alumnus of Norfolk State University, a historically black college, in Norfolk, Virginia, where she was inducted into Alpha Kappa Mu Honor Society. She also attended Northwestern University, in Evanston, Illinois as a biomedical engineering major in the eighties. Ms. Stewart attended University of Michigan-Dearborn as a biology major. She holds a second baccalaureate degree from Excelsior University. She also attended the College of Human Medicine at Michigan State University for one year before becoming a full-time mommy. All of these educational endeavors are a source for her writings.

She loves, hanging out with family, reading, and watching movies. And eating " real homemade Southern food", at the Croaker Spot restaurant in the historic Jackson Ward section of downtown Richmond, Virginia in her spare time.

On any given week day, you can find her at a bookstore, Starbucks, a museum, visiting a rose garden, the zoo or at the Virginia Beach oceanfront. Or just home relaxing.

On any given Sunday, you will usually find her worshipping at St Paul's Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia. Where, internationally renown, Pastor Dr. Lance Watson, a fellow Michigander, and a fellow avid Detroit Lions football and Detroit Pistons basketball fan is preaching.

She is available for speaking engagements, spoken word/poetry readings, and new book release events. She is available to speak to your group on a variety of African-American issues, Christian women's issues, mind/body health connections, Christian family, Christian parenting and general wellness topics.

http://www.TiaStewart.com

Poetry and President Obama

2009-10-09T21:29:00.000-07:00

October 10, 2009

Congratulations to President Barack Obama on Winning the Nobel Peace Prize

Look for President Barack Obama in my soon to be released book:
"Colors of a Man, Tribute to African-American Men" by Tia Stewart is a collection of new millennium"call to action" poetry selections featuring historical leaders such as President Barack Obama. From regular Joes to CEO's, African-American men are compared to the great masterpiece paintings.
www.tiastewart.com
FYI, President Obama is featured in the poem, “OLIVE” as in olive branch, the international sign for peace. I wrote that poem in October 2008. Guess all great minds think alike. Kudos to the Nobel Committee.

© Tia Stewart 2009

Tia Stewart, Poet and Author Featured in October Issue of Richmond Magazine

2009-10-02T20:13:00.001-07:00

Tia Stewart is an African-American writer whose penchant for verbiage started in the fifth grade when her teachers thought she was passing handwritten notes about boys, but she and her best friend were editing each other's books and magazine articles.

Her third book is a poetry novel, Colors of Man: Tribute to African-American Men due for release Late Fall 2009. Her first publication, Colors of a Man: Transgressions and Hope was published in April of this year as an Ebook on Amazon. She gets an updated look in the October issue of Richmond magazine in the makeover session.

She writes in several genres, but poetry is her passion. Ms. Stewart is an RN, who attended Northwestern University and is an alumnus of Norfolk State University, and Excelsior University. She also attended the College of Human Medicine at Michigan State University for one year before becoming a full-time mommy. Ms. Stewart is a member of James River Writers. Tia lives in Chesterfield, Virginia with her family. Find her at www.TiaStewart.com

2009-08-25T00:10:00.001-07:00

2009-08-25T00:09:00.001-07:00

2009-08-24T22:49:00.001-07:00

The Book Shoppe

2009-08-22T16:02:00.000-07:00

Thinking about going on vacation? Has the recession severely curtailed your vacation plans?
Curl up with a good book this summer and travel to new and exotic places. The New York Times Best Seller's list and Oprah's Book Club of recommended summer reads are available at http://www.bookshoppe.info/.

Discount magazines at publishers prices are also available.

Visit http://www.bookshoppe.info/ for this summer's hottest books.

Meanwhile enjoy an excerpt from my new novel, "Colors of Man, The Novel" and expect it summer 2010.

"Angela took a deep inhale of the Tanzanian morning breeze. Deep in the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro, bordering Kenya and Tanzania, Zanzibar was nothing like she had envisioned. The narrow streets and the African-Arab architecture reminded her of a James Bond movie. According to all the travel books, the east African sunset was best viewed from the Emerson and Green Hotel. The view from the hotel balcony suite ranked among the top ten sunsets in the world. It was well worth the trip to the exotic, hypnotic country situated at the intersection of the equator, the Indian ocean and Mount Kilimanjaro.

On the previous evening, she had asked the chauffeur to drive her around downtown, so she could acclimate to the city again. The buildings and the sounds of Zanzibar by night relaxed and soothed her soul. She always felt closer to her great-grandmother when she made these vacations to Africa. Great-Grandma Rebecca though born a slave, lived to see emancipation and enjoy the mountaintops of the world that Martin Luther King, Jr talked about in his famous, “I Have a Dream” speech at the base of the Lincoln Memorial..."

The above excerpt is from "Colors of a Man, The Novel" by Tia Stewart