Local writer brings writing and reflection to schools during Black History Month

EAST ORANGE, NJ — The importance of the written word and history are the focus of workshops taking place at two area schools during Black History Month. During the week of Feb. 22, a number of students at Kean University in Union and The Cicely Tyson School of the Performing Arts in East Orange will participate in the Get It Write! Program. The program is dedicated to building literacy among young people.

Facilitated by writer, author and editor Sonya Kimble-Ellis, the workshops will lead students through an overview of the Harlem renaissance, the black arts movement and hip-hop culture. “Students will explore how writers and other artists of those periods used their craft to document their condition and the times they were living in,” said Kimble-Ellis. Participants will also listen to socially-conscious songs and then write essays or poems based on their reaction to — or interpretation of — the lyrics. “The intention is to get their creative juices and critical thinking flowing. Then they can put their ideas and opinions on paper.”

Kimble-Ellis has brought the Get It Write! Program to teens, young adults and children in seminars hosted by Black Girls Rock and Unstoppable Girls. She has also hosted workshops at the 1978 Maplewood Arts Center in Maplewood.

Sonya Kimble-Ellis’ articles have appeared in Scholastic’s classroom magazines, Black Enterprise, The New York Daily News, Celebrity Hairstyles, Kitchen Solutions, Matters, Upscale, Ebony, Newark Bound and other publications and websites. She is the author of the children’s activity books “Math Puzzlers” and “Traditional African American Arts & Activities.” She self-published the children’s picture book “The Sandcastle Kids: A Mayan Adventure” and authored the biography for teens titled “Beyonce: Entertainer.”

For more information about the Get It Write! Program, email GetItWriteProgram@comcast.net.