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Rudolph Lewis (born
1948 in Baltimore, Maryland) was raised by his
grandparents William and Ella Lewis of Jarratt, Virginia
— in the Village of Jerusalem. He was recruited 1967 by
SNCC organizer Bob Moore while at Morgan State College
(1965-1967) to establish a Baltimore SNCC branch. Along
with Walter Lively, he helped to establish Black
Liberation Press. He spent several years (since1969) as
an organizer for Local 1199, the Health Care Workers
Union; resigning from 1199 in 1974.
He graduated with a
B.A (1978) and M.A. (1981) degrees in English. After
graduation, he taught writing and literature at
University of the District of Columbia and the
University of Maryland. In 1982, he spent ten weeks with
the Peace Corps in Zaire. He taught writing at Northeast
Louisiana University (NLU, 1983) and then the University
of New Orleans (UNO, 1984-1986). Yusef Komunyakaa and
Lewis, along with Ahmose Zu-Bolton, created and built
the cultural center Copacetic on Piety Street. Lewis
wrote poems and essays that were published by The New
Laurel Review edited by Lee Meitzen Grue. With poet
Gillian Conoley, he also began his own rag, Crickets:
Poems & Other Jazz, which lasted several issues. In
1987, he returned to Baltimore and worked again for
Local 1199 as editor and organizer. From 1991-1997,
Lewis taught in several adult education programs. During
this period he spent a year in Morgan State’s doctoral
program in education (1991-1992), and completed from
1994-1997 a masters program in library science. From
1997-1999, he worked as a librarian for Enoch Pratt Free
Library.
After the
publication of his edited volume of
I Am New Orleans & Other
Poems by Marcus B. Christian in 1999, Lewis
again returned to the Village of Jerusalem where he
collected the letters and stories of his grandmother
Ella Lewis and began research on the Southampton
Rebellion of 1831. He is an authority on Nathaniel
Turner and New Orleans poet Marcus Christian. He worked
as librarian at St. Mary’s Seminary from April 2000
until August 2004. He then worked as librarian for
Baltimore City College High School from 2004 to 2005. In
November 2001, he founded the black arts and literary
website ChickenBones: A Journal (www.nathanielturner.com),
which he continues to edit and which has become one of
the most popular African-American websites on the
internet. It will receive 2 million visitors in 2006.
Speaking Topics:
“All
about Nathaniel Turner”
“Building a Popular Black Website”
“Working with Adult Education Students”
“The Problem with Information
Access for Minorities”
Nubian Voices -- Speakers
(Specializing in African Americans & Latinos)
156-20 Riverside Drive, Suite 8F,
New York, NY 10003, Tel. 212-740-4650
Email:
NubianVoicesMT@aol.com
posted 13 November 2006 |
