I am the granddaughter of Eula and RP Sirls, sharecroppers in Texas and Alabama in the 1930s, and the great-granddaughter of Rosa (formerly enslaved) and George Thrikill; and the granddaughter of Elizabeth Jean Pratt and Daniel Pratt of Freetown, Sierra Leone.
I am the sister of Awadagin Pratt, one of the “one of the great and distinctive American pianists and conductors of our time.”
I am the mother of Emmanuel Pratt-Clarke (@emmanuelaopc), an amazing talented African-Diaspora artist and painter based in the United States and the Bahamas whose art is highlighted on this website, and Raebekkah Pratt-Clarke, a powerful, determined Blackwildgirl “dominating the field” in sports management.
Though bastardization is traditionally associated with someone or something negative, I’m using it in thetraditional Black way, like when we say, “you bad,” it means, “You are really good.” That’s kinda thebeauty of Black culture and Black language, and the power of corrupting traditional understandings andmeanings of words. I didn’t
“Actually, the world and America is upset and the only way to bring about a change is to upset it more.” – Fannie Lou Hamer Because historical context matters. I have admired Fannie Lou Hamer from the first time I learned about her, during a Black History class at the
Blackwildgirl’s 20 lessons learned about book publishing and marketing Is 2025 the year you write the book you have been dreaming about? Do you have a book that you have written that is about to get published in 2025? I hope these reflections about the lessons I learned about book
