Vocal Expressions

Poet’s Bio: Henry Westray, Jr. can be called the quintessential Renaissance man, having had successful careers in a variety of areas in this country and abroad. Although he loves to write poetry and short stories; his background includes work as an Educator, Program Administrator, Television Host, Family Therapist, Workshop Facilitator, and has been a judge for several Miss America Pageants.   He has a B.A. Degree from Morgan State University and a Masters Degree from Bryn Mawr College.   He also completed an internship with the Harvard School of Public Health’s Youth Violence Prevention Program. Before retiring in 2012, he served as the Director of Youth Suicide Prevention for the State of Maryland, Chairing the Governor’s First Commission on Suicide Prevention.   He conducts workshops and has written articles in areas such as Youth Suicide and Violence Prevention, Race and Cultural Competence, Sexual Minority Issues, and was commissioned by the Harvard Fie...

Poet’s Bio: Brenda Bunting is a socially conscious Poet, Author, Spoken Word Artist and Workshop Facilitator. She was the featured poet on Sojourn with Words with Poet Laureate Sistah Joy in February 2020 on PGCTV local cable channel 76. She was the 2019 winner of the UUCS Jazz Poetry Slam in Sterling, VA and was most recently published in, “The Daily Abuse” Collection 2018.  A former Poet in Progress through the DC Commission on the Arts and the Humanities she is also a life member of the Kentucky State Poetry Society (KSPS). Brenda is a volunteer speaker for RAINN and University of Kentucky alumna with her B.A. in English. Brenda advocates for the therapeutic use of writing poetry for mental and emotional wellness and healing from traumatic events. Her book, "Poems of Love and Violence In between Life and Death 2 nd Edition" is available for purchase on Amazon.com.  DL: What are some of your reflections during the COVID-19 pandemic? BB:   Well, 2020 a y...

Well, Walter Mosley has done it again by introducing readers to a new and complex character, Joe King Oliver, a NYPD detective who was framed for a sexual assault by powerful enemies within the force. King is a flawed man who loves the ladies, jazz music (Thelonious Monk, Louis Armstrong, etc.) and books (Tolstoy and Hermann Hesse). Since his release from Rikers, King (often called by his middle name) has started a detective agency (King Detective Service) and his “wise beyond her years” teenage daughter, Aja-Denise is his assistant. But every now and then thinking about his experience in Rikers “left an aftermath of isolation” and makes him realize how human connection especially with his daughter is very fragile. But he finds solace in the work he does as an investigative private detective. So when he receives a letter from the woman confessing she was paid to set him up by the police, he decides to find out who was behind wanting him gone from the force and why. At the same ...

On Saturday, March 7, 2020, I attended the Women Writers Rock Panel discussion presented by the Black Writers’ Guild of Maryland at the Enoch Pratt Free Library (Edmondson Branch location). The panel members included authors: Cheryl Barton (romance and inspirational), Rosa Griffin (short stories), J. Hawki (mystery/suspense), and Odessa Rose (contemporary women’s fiction) and the discussion was moderated by Henry Westray, Jr. (poet). The meeting was well attended and we were all excited to hear these authors talk about their writing journeys and to read from their various works. Henry Westray did a wonderful job in facilitating an informative panel discussion and we all came away with quite a few nuggets of wisdom. Here are some highlights taken from each author: Rosa Griffin   ·          Current WIP: 2 nd book of short stories. ·          She started writing in 1999 just to vent and t...

I’m a huge Eric Jerome Dickey fan and yes…he is my writer crush. Now that I have gotten that out of the way, let’s dive into Bad Men and Wicked Women whose title intrigued me to take the journey to get to know the two main characters, Ken Swift (from Mississippi) and Jake Ellis (his Ghanaian friend in crime). Both are low-level enforcers who work for San Bernardino. Ken is a complicated guy who is divorced from Jimi Lee (Ethiopian) and they have a daughter, Margaux, pregnant and in trouble, who’s squeezing him for fifty thousand dollars. He has a girlfriend, Rachel Redman (the singing Eskimo with roots that go back to Eritrea). He would sometimes lust for Bernice Nesbitt, his African-British neighbor across the street and even toy with the idea of meeting a beautiful Senegalese woman in Africa (at Jake’s urging). Jake Ellis, on the other hand, is an unencumbered proud Ghanaian, godfather to Margaux, a pugilist, a great cook, and loves the ladies. He’s not afraid to step to any...

I recently saw Richard & Jane & Dick & Sally , the fourth play of the 2019/2020 season at Baltimore Center Stage. It is written by Noah Diaz and directed by Taylor Reynolds in co-production with The Playwrights Realm.   Once I settled into my seat, I was drawn into this 1950s tale with a present day feel of a dysfunctional family coming to terms with grief, loss, estrangement, and finding love in between. Richard (played by Neimah Djourabchi) is dying from a terminal illness and reaches out to his estranged sister, Jane (played by Michelle Beck) in an effort to mend their relationship. Although an adult, Jane still feels twinges of being under his shadow.   Now she’s come back to the house where they both grew up in and feels like a guest amidst his children whom she doesn’t really know. Dick (played by Jay Cobi á n), Richard’s son misses his mother (played by Vanessa Kai) dearly who passed away and dresses up in her clothes and shoes in hopes of being close t...

On Saturday, February 1, 2020 I attended the Black Writers’ Guild Black History Month presentation – “The Life & Times of Alberta Jones” presented by Keenan Conigland (screenwriter and author) via video. What drew me to this talk was not only was Alberta Jones one of the first African-American woman to pass the bar, the first female city attorney in Jefferson County and Muhammad Ali’s first attorney (they lived not too far from each other) but the fact that she was murdered in 1965 and the case remains unsolved. At the time of her death, Ms. Jones was thirty-four years old and a civil rights pioneer in the prime of her life. Mr. Conigland talked about how he discovered this story via the New York Times and how he pursued getting the life rights from the family.   He is in the process of bringing this story to the screen and walked the audience through knowing and protecting our rights as a screenwriter (e.g. copywriting creative content, negotiating with the movie st...