Catching up with Melissa Whiteford St. Clair

What’s White Girl Advocacy been up to?

My word for 2024 was synergy.

With synergy as a strategy, I am truly grateful for the collaborations, places, and spaces to share my #advocacythroughpoetry. Counting the many blessings through these highlights:

White Girl Homework - Advocacy Education Workbook was launched March 10, 2024 – Harriet Tubman Day.

“White Girl Homework” is for people who want to learn more about our Nation's collective history using creative ways to explore the cause and effects of racism and systemic racism. [more information at WhiteGirlAdvocacy.com/bookshelf]

In celebration of National Poetry Month in April, I partnered with Linda Harris, Director of Events and Programming at the Harriet Tubman Museum and Educational Center. We shared Brigadier General Harriet Tubman’s story through code songs and poetry during a walk on the Underground Railroad and at the HTMEC.

Harriet Tubman Museum and Educational Center, Cambridge, MD

As part of the Community Remembrance Project of Greenville County SC’s Soil Collection display unveiling at the Upcountry History Museum, I shared an original poem, “Jars.” [Watch the YouTube video].

My poem “Erosion” inspired by the Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr.’s global vision of Beloved Community was selected for inclusion in the “South Carolina Bards Poetry Anthology” 2024 launched in the summer.

Library card holders in the Greenville County Library System have the ability to check out my two books of poetry “Home Work A Collection of Poems Sparked by One White Woman’s Journey on the Matter of Race” and “Heart Work A Heart-Centered Collection of Poems” from the Local Author Collection.

Over 200+ people said, yes to poetry at the Finding Common Ground Faith & Justice Forum where I co-led two poetry workshops along with local poet, mOody bLaCk. My poem, “Finding Common Ground” was included in the culminating poetry anthology, “Finding Common Ground Leaning In To Listen.”