About THE AUTHOR

AMON GOODEN | AYO MARIA | CARLOS A. JONES | CHERYL HARRY | DARRELL Q. SLADE | KABA HIAWATHA | J.R. SLADE | WILL THOMAS | JARRIN WOOTEN

MR. AMON GOODEN, B.S.

 PHYSICIST, MATHEMATICIAN, AUTHOR

Mr. Amon Gooden graduated from The Lincoln University in Pennsylvania in May of 2006.  He earned a B.S. in physics with minors in mathematics and pre-engineering.  While a student at Lincoln, Amon worked as a mathematics and physics tutor.  He was also on the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge National Team and was selected from thousands of students to represent the Honda Motor Company, in its national ads-Amon appeared in several issues of Ebony, Essence, Black Enterprise and The Crisis Magazine.  Amon is the author of the book, Check This Out!: World Mysteries and Untold Histories.

Examples of some available topics include:

*Are we alone? Have beings from other planets visited earth? Proof of ancient STEM.

*What traveling teaches you-Check This Out.

*College life - Getting in and graduating—The importance of learning languages

*Parenting - Raising productive children

*Math and Physics can be fun –How to get your child into STEM

*Dating-What every female needs to know about males

Dr. Ayo Maria Gooden, PH.D

PSYCHOLOGIST

Ayo” means “joy” in the West African Yoruba language.  Dr. Ayo is the first in her family to earn a college degree.  She earned her BA in psychology from The Lincoln University in Pennsylvania and earned her MA and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Cincinnati, Ohio. Dr. Ayo is in full-time private practice as a licensed psychologist.  She is also a Board Certified African Centered/Black Psychologist, Diplomate and Fellow.  Dr. Ayo is a former university professor and administrator and has worked in the mental health field for over 45 years.  

Dr. Ayo is the author of the book, A Single Bracelet Does Not Jingle: Finding Your Ideal Love Partner, Making Love Last and Ending Unhealthy Relationships: A Multi-Racial Examination of Love Relationships, www.etheoryal.com.

To Protect and Empower: Unionism in Higher Education, Proceedings of APSCUF/PSE Conference on Labor in Higher Education.  Harrisburg, PA.  October 15-17, 2009.

Suicide, Attempted Suicide, and Parasuicide Among Afrikan-Americans, Act 101 Journal, May 2001, Vol. 8, Issue 1, pp. 7-11.

Does Milk do a Body Good?, Health is Wealth, Vol. 1, No. 2, Spring 1999, pp 1-2, Lincoln University, Pennsylvania.

African Americans, European Americans, and Pathological Stereotypes: An African-Centered Perspective. Williams, M. T., Gooden, A. M., & Davis, D. (to appear). In Psychology of Culture, G. R. Hayes & M. H. Bryant, eds., Nova Science Publishers. ISBN-13: 978-1-62257-274-8.

Examples of some available topics include:

*Finding the ideal love partner

*Ending unhealthy relationships/divorce/relationship recovery

*How to make love last

*Depression, suicide and other mental health issues

*Contributions of Blacks to world civilizations

*Cultural awareness, sensitivity and competency identifying and countering implicit bias

micro-aggressions and racism

*Nurturing the genius in your child

*Retention strategies: How to set and achieve goals

*Stress/Time management

*Picking a career

*How to start your own business and build a Black community

Carlos A. Jones

Carlos A. Jones. A native of Louisville,KY was born on March 12, 1975 to Winnie Ballard and Darrell Louise Jones. Growing up Carlos struggled with having seizures yet with the help of his from his family he was able to overcome that at a young age. In 1982 Carlos and his mother relocated to Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Winston became a second home to Carlos, he began to adapt to the community well. At the age of 13, Carlos loss his father, this was very tough for any child to have to experience. Carlos’s mother was his backbone and was there to support him through his tribulations. As time passed, Carlos would then marry his high school sweetheart and start a family with her. They had five lovely kids together the youngest, Carlos Jr. was lost in stillbirth in 2009, the same year after he lost his moms. After all that Carlos went through he had the courage to share his story with you in his book that is set to release 3.12—21’ 1975. His inspiration for the book was to tell the untold stories of both of the cities that made him into the man he is today.

Cheryl “Streeter” Harry

Cheryl Harry is a cultural curator whose mission is engaging the community in the preservation and celebration of black heritage. She is the founding director of Triad Cultural Arts, Inc., an organization dedicated to presenting programming that contributes to a culturally competent community.  Their signature event is the annual Juneteenth Celebration, which commemorates a milestone in America’s history – the abolishment of slavery.

For over twenty years, Cheryl Harry has used her broad based experience to positively impact the lives of others. From grassroots organizations to national non-profits, she has worked with such prestigious organizations as the Maya Angelou Research Center, The Arts Council, The YMCA, Winston-Salem State University, The National Black Theatre Festival, The Urban League, and the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation.  

She has served on several boards which include: Arts Based Elementary School, Black Philanthropy Initiative, Creative Corridors, Mayor's Design Review Committee, Amanie Foundation, Liberian Organization of the Piedmont.  Affiliations include, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture – Charter Member and the Association of African American Museums, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. 

She has received several awards which include YWCA Women of Vision Award,  Winston-Salem Chronicle’s Community Service and Curator of the Arts Award, Woman On A Mission Award, YMCA Black Achievers Award, Women of Achievement Arts Award, Innovative Youth Programs, the Maya Angelou Center on Health Equity Community Impact Champion Award, Women In Business Award, City of Winston-Salem’s Outstanding Women Leaders Award, and the Race Progress Promoters Award. 

Cheryl is a native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina and a graduate of North Carolina A&T State University.  She is the author of, Winston-Salem’s African American Legacy, which highlights significant contributions through the lens of the city's historical cultural institutions.

KABA HIAWATHA KAMENE

Since 2011, Kaba Hiawatha has stared in several critically acclaimed, documentaries such as Tariq Nasheed’s, Hidden Colors 1, 2, 3,4, 5 and 1804: The Hidden History of The Haitian Revolution. Additionally, he is the featured narrator in the hit documentary, Out of Darkness and Heavy is the Crown by Amadeuz Christ as well as starring in “Elementary Genocide”, “Black Friday 1 and 2” and Dame Dash’s , “The Secret to Ballin” with Snoop Dogg, Ice-T, Wu Tang Clan, Faith Evans, Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith and other entertainment and community icons. Kaba Hiawatha’s voice, speeches, writings and narrations have been performed in independent productions, Neruvian Doom by Nehru and Doom, titled, “Om”. He is also the featured writer and performer on Wu Tang’s Ep, “The Saga Continues” track titled “Message.” He collaborated with Kasshe Muzik on his own two EP’s titled, “From Kaos to Order” and “Mi aMoor.”

Kaba Hiawatha received his Bachelors’ Degree in International Politics from New York University, with a minor in Caribbean Studies (June77). He earned his first Masters of Art in World History from Hunter College, N.Y. (June 87) and he received his second Masters of Science in Educational Administration and Supervision, from City College of New York (Feb.88).

Kaba Hiawatha has been a Pan African, African-Centered educator, consultant, administrator, staff developer and curriculum writer for over 40 years. He has taught every grade level (Pre-K-12) in New York City Department of Education for over 31 years (Oct 1979- Jul 2009) and has been a college professor in the Black Studies Department at the State University of New York at New Paltz for 12 Years (Fall 2004- Spring 2016).

Over Kaba Hiawatha’s long career in Education, he has consulted many Boards of Education, Schools, Communities, Parents and Students groups, his greatest experiences have been his many classroom visitations around the world and implementing successful strategies in the teaching/ learning process. He is firmly dedicated to the belief that culture plays a vitally important role in education he credits many of his academic views to his teacher, world-renowned educators, Professor John Henrik Clarke.

Kaba Hiawatha is the creator, Principal Facilitator and Chief Executive Officer of the African-Centered Science Academy, “Per Ankh (Temple/House of Life)”. The Per Ankh is now a feature in the Kemetic Wisdom School at www.shockmetaphysics.com and www.kabakemene.com

Kaba Hiawatha has written many educational curricula guides and collaborated with teams in the creations of many study guides. He co-authored a book entitled, “Mi aMoor” with Kaashe Muzik and has authored a biography on the architect of America’s African studies program “Honoring William Leo Hansberry.”

Kaba Hiawatha lives in New York City with his wife, Sharen of 37 years and they have two daughters, Sasha Madeline, Candace Deana and one son, Heru. Their children have followed in their parent’s footsteps and work in fields that serve humanity and the community.

Kaba Hiawatha Kamene’s motto is “ No distractions, Keep on Keepin’ on, it ain’t over ‘til we all win.”

Darrell Q. Slade

Darrell Q. Slade was born on January 26th, 1995 in Wachovia, a land mass in North Carolina known as the Tre-4. Slade changed the game in literature when he released his book The Alarm Clock to the world in December of 2017. He is a true artist of words, in his novels he bleeds his passion, purpose, and pain into the pages.

Darrell studied business and finance at Winston-Salem State University, originally named Slater Industrial by Simeon G. Atkins in 1892. While he was at Winston-Salem State, he pledged The Beta Iota Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc in the fall of 2014 and would eventually become chapter president in 2016. Also During his collegiate career, Slade was the Fund Manager of Ram Asset Management Fund, one of the few Student Investment Funds at a HBCU, that invests over $100,000, liquid assets, in the New York Stock Exchange. In the four years that Darrell was apart of the investment fund, it returned forty percent since it’s initial investment. This created a field of opportunities for him in the corporate world. In this book the Alarm Clock, Darrell talks about how he had his own hustle while he was in undergrad.

After college, Darrell went the non-traditional route, and released his first novel, The Alarm Clock, then started a publishing enterprise called No More Suits to give authors a firm platform to release their novels to the world. Soon after No More Suits, Darrell followed up with his first book, with a second piece of literature, entitled Book of Rhymes. This was shocking because, with a strong background in business finance, no one expected him to drop a 200 page book of poetry. But his unique writing style in Book of Rhymes pieces his mindset together in a very complex yet creative way.

In 2020, Slade wanted to redefine what an author was. Typically most authors arent serial investors, therefore he launched GUD Co. a distribution platform that provides education on how to get started in trucking as a business owner. GUD Co. also has a network of drivers, brokers, and certified dispatchers. His latest book علم التوزيع complements why he made this move well. Slade currently has five total published projects and counting.

“If it wasn’t for college I would just be a hustler, straight up, its in my blood. However college taught me how to hustle strategic, it didn’t teach me to start my own, it pushed me in that direction. I took lemons and create my own distribution route. “ -Q.

Published Novels

FEATURED ARTICLES



J.R. Slade

J. R. Slade, a full-time Law enforcement officer and part-time Army Reserve soldier was living a comfortable lifestyle, along with his family in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. It was on a cool evening in March of 2006, when his life was suddenly changed by the delivery of an unexpected document, the contents of which were even more surprising. Inside the envelope was a document informing Sergeant Slade that he had been selected to be deployed to Iraq to fight in the war on terror. Military men and women are expected to rise to the challenge, and to be prepared for, and to respond to, such notifications. This notification was different. Out of a unit of roughly 125 soldiers, the full-time law enforcement officer and part-time soldier was the only one selected for deployment. Sergeant Slade was surprised that he was selected at such a late stage in his career. He was in the middle of planning his retirement from the military in a matter of eight months. Circumstances changed, and within a few weeks, Sergeant Slade was forced to leave his family behind. He was eventually deployed. The deployment was to last for approximately fifteen to seventeen months, exceeding his remaining time in the military. Being notified of deployment at such a late stage in his career was certainly unforeseen. Against the backdrop of war, Sergeant Slade reveals the complexity of serving his country. He found himself, along with two other U.S. soldiers, three Iraqi interpreters, living and working among a large group of Iraqi soldiers. He struggled with his emotions, as he tried to survive the day-to-day turmoil of war. The assignment in Iraq became a priority in his life, and almost nothing else mattered. Sergeant Slade had signed a contract with the U.S. Army and was obligated to comply. In the end, Sergeant Slade had to find the inner strength to cope with the mental anguish, as a result of his deployment. An emotional seed was planted in his life from day one of the notification, and it grew every day throughout the deployment. This is J. R. Slade's story.

Will Thomas

Will Thomas was born in Newark, New Jersey, before moving to Charlotte, North Carolina while in middle school. He graduated college with a Bachelors degree in Computer Science from Winston Salem State University and a Master degree in Information Technology from UNC-Charlotte. He has a huge passion for traveling and helping others with their personal finances. He started the traveling and personal finance blog iamwillthomas.com to motivate others to travel more and to build wealth. After witnessing his parents practice bad money management, his goal is to build wealth and help others build wealth. He is determined to break generational curses in his household and help others do the same!

Jarrin Wooten

Jarrin Wooten was born November 2nd, 1990 in Southern Pines, NC to DaShonda Wooten and Mario Lane. He is the oldest of 4 brothers and graduated from high school in 2009 and attended Winston-Salem State University, where he began to discover his love for writing and poetry. He graduated from WSSU in 2014 with a degree in elementary education, and currently resides in Charlotte, NC with his son Cameron where he has been a kindergarten teacher of 5 years. His long term aspirations are to eventually be able to travel and focus on creating more books for every age range. Jarrin is the author SkyDive and is set to release more books in 2020.

ARTIST

CARLOS PARKS

Carlos Parks is a motivational speaker and community activist. Born in Goldsboro NC and raised in Lynchburg Va., Carlos was an excellent student and excelled in sports as well. His life changed when he was exposed to crack cocaine in the Summer of 1987. Carlos watched as his friends began selling drugs in middles school, but it wasn’t until his freshman year in high school that he succumbed to the peer pressures of drug dealing.

 Carlos experienced another transformation after receiving a 30-year sentence for distribution of cocaine in the Western District of NC. Carlos made the decision to change his life and work to return to society better than when he left it. Carlos did 17 years of his 30-year sentence thanks to his continuous legal battle that eventually lead to a 10-year reduction of his sentence.

     Today Carlos Parks is a motivational speaker, re-entry advocate, professional artist, life coach, mentor, entrepreneur, Toast Master, father, grandfather and licensed real estate agent. Carlos sits on the board of “Fathers United”, a nonprofit established to bring fathers together for the good of children as mentors and leaders. Carlos started his own non-profit organization called “Versatile Development Group “, which focuses on communication skills in at risk youth and re-entry for the adult population.Carlos has learned Spanish fluently and conversational understanding of French and Yoruba. He is now one of the program developers for “The Dudley Eagles Speakers Bureau “.  A brand ambassador for “Soul Society” and “Village Minded”. A member of “The Academy of Hope”. 

     Carlos was released from his term of probation early and has since worked with his ex-probation officer to deter probationers that may be on course to violation. Carlos has also worked with the head of probation for the central district to try and have programs made available for individuals returning to society after long terms of imprisonment.

     Speaking engagements include speaking at Dismis Charities of Greensboro, Winston-Salem Street School, Inmates to Entrepreneurs and more. Carlos was also a panelist in a discussion on Rikers Island in Lynchburg Va.