{"id":794,"date":"2019-05-21T22:27:26","date_gmt":"2019-05-21T22:27:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.iforcolor.org\/word\/?page_id=794"},"modified":"2024-06-02T13:38:04","modified_gmt":"2024-06-02T13:38:04","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.iforcolor.org\/word\/about\/","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pl-794\" class=\"panel-layout\">\n<div id=\"pg-794-0\" class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" data-style=\"{&quot;background_image_attachment&quot;:false,&quot;background_display&quot;:&quot;tile&quot;,&quot;parallax&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;cell_alignment&quot;:&quot;flex-start&quot;}\" data-ratio=\"1\" data-ratio-direction=\"right\">\n<div id=\"pgc-794-0-0\" class=\"panel-grid-cell\" data-weight=\"1\">\n<div id=\"panel-794-0-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_sow-editor panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"0\" data-style=\"{&quot;background_image_attachment&quot;:false,&quot;background_display&quot;:&quot;tile&quot;}\">\n<div class=\"so-widget-sow-editor so-widget-sow-editor-base\">\n<div class=\"siteorigin-widget-tinymce textwidget\">\n<h1><span style=\"color: #000000; text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 The<\/em><\/span><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"> WORD <\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-971\" src=\"https:\/\/www.iforcolor.org\/word\/wp-content\/uploads\/thumbnail_Outlook-23cpvnt3-1-1-300x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"259\" height=\"259\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.iforcolor.org\/word\/wp-content\/uploads\/thumbnail_Outlook-23cpvnt3-1-1-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/www.iforcolor.org\/word\/wp-content\/uploads\/thumbnail_Outlook-23cpvnt3-1-1-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/www.iforcolor.org\/word\/wp-content\/uploads\/thumbnail_Outlook-23cpvnt3-1-1-1024x1024.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.iforcolor.org\/word\/wp-content\/uploads\/thumbnail_Outlook-23cpvnt3-1-1-600x600.png 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 259px) 100vw, 259px\" \/><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"siteorigin-widget-tinymce textwidget\">\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><em><span style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\">if<\/span><span style=\"color: #ff0000; text-decoration: underline;\">o<\/span>r<span style=\"color: #008080; text-decoration: underline;\">c<span style=\"color: #800000; text-decoration: underline;\">olo<\/span><\/span>r<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">The\u00a0\u00a0Poetry <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">of my<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Friends\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #008000; text-decoration: underline;\">Conni Blair\u00a0<\/span> <span style=\"color: #ff99cc; text-decoration: underline;\">*<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<span style=\"color: #33cccc; text-decoration: underline;\">Wizzy Dorceus\u00a0<\/span> <span style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\">*\u00a0<\/span> <span style=\"color: #800080; text-decoration: underline;\">Jessica Elsayed \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #800080; text-decoration: underline;\">*<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #800000; text-decoration: underline;\">Brandon Hummons<\/span> <span style=\"color: #339966; text-decoration: underline;\">* <span style=\"color: #666699; text-decoration: underline;\">Eva Withers-Evans\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000; text-decoration: underline;\">Renee Matthews Jackson\u00a0<\/span> * \u00a0<span style=\"color: #333399; text-decoration: underline;\">Lennie Johnson III<\/span> <span style=\"color: #993300; text-decoration: underline;\">*<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #993366; text-decoration: underline;\">Toni King<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<span style=\"color: #008000; text-decoration: underline;\">*<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff00ff; text-decoration: underline;\">Melony McGant\u00a0<\/span> <span style=\"color: #00ffff; text-decoration: underline;\">*\u00a0 Autumn Stiles <\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #ff00ff; text-decoration: underline;\">*<\/span><\/span><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600; text-decoration: underline;\">Arthur Wilson<\/span> <span style=\"color: #ff6600; text-decoration: underline;\">*<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000; text-decoration: underline;\">Miwa Tsutsui<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Created by Dale Ricardo Shields\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_802\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-802\" class=\"wp-image-802 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/www.iforcolor.org\/word\/wp-content\/uploads\/gwendolyn-brooks1-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.iforcolor.org\/word\/wp-content\/uploads\/gwendolyn-brooks1-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.iforcolor.org\/word\/wp-content\/uploads\/gwendolyn-brooks1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.iforcolor.org\/word\/wp-content\/uploads\/gwendolyn-brooks1-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.iforcolor.org\/word\/wp-content\/uploads\/gwendolyn-brooks1-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-802\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Find your own voice ~ Gwendolyn Brooks<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"siteorigin-widget-tinymce textwidget\">\n<div id=\"attachment_714\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-714\" class=\"wp-image-714\" title=\"ifc\" src=\"https:\/\/iforcolor.org\/word\/wp-content\/uploads\/ifc-300x244.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"244\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-714\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>&#8220;The ability of writers to imagine what is not self, to familiarize the strange and mystify the familiar, is the test of their power.&#8221; ~ Toni Morrison<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"pl-794\" class=\"panel-layout\">\n<div id=\"pg-794-0\" class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" data-style=\"{&quot;background_image_attachment&quot;:false,&quot;background_display&quot;:&quot;tile&quot;,&quot;parallax&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;cell_alignment&quot;:&quot;flex-start&quot;}\" data-ratio=\"1\" data-ratio-direction=\"right\">\n<div id=\"pgc-794-0-0\" class=\"panel-grid-cell\" data-weight=\"1\">\n<div id=\"panel-794-0-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_sow-editor panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"0\" data-style=\"{&quot;background_image_attachment&quot;:false,&quot;background_display&quot;:&quot;tile&quot;}\">\n<div class=\"so-widget-sow-editor so-widget-sow-editor-base\">\n<div class=\"siteorigin-widget-tinymce textwidget\">\n<div id=\"attachment_719\" style=\"width: 308px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-719\" class=\"wp-image-719\" title=\"ifc 2\" src=\"https:\/\/iforcolor.org\/word\/wp-content\/uploads\/ifc-21-300x205.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"298\" height=\"189\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-719\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>&#8220;What I try to do is write. I may write for two weeks &#8220;the cat sat on the mat, that is that, not a rat.&#8221; And it might be just the most boring and awful stuff. But I try. When I&#8217;m writing, I write. And then it&#8217;s as if the muse is convinced that I&#8217;m serious and says, &#8220;Okay. Okay. I&#8217;ll come.&#8221; ~ Maya Angelou<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_867\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-867\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-867\" title=\"baldwin533\" src=\"https:\/\/iforcolor.org\/word\/wp-content\/uploads\/baldwin533-300x175.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"175\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-867\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>James Baldwin &#8211; \u201cYou write in order to change the world &#8230; if you alter, even by a millimeter, the way people look at reality, then you can change it.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_725\" style=\"width: 278px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-725\" class=\"wp-image-725 size-medium\" title=\"ifc 3\" src=\"https:\/\/iforcolor.org\/word\/wp-content\/uploads\/ifc-32-268x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"268\" height=\"300\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-725\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>&#8220;You rely on a sentence to say more than the denotation and the connotation; you revel in the smoke that the words send up.&#8221; ~ Toni Morrison<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_869\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-869\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-869\" title=\"Langston Hughes\" src=\"https:\/\/iforcolor.org\/word\/wp-content\/uploads\/Langston-Hughes-300x241.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"241\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-869\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Langston Hughes &#8211; &#8220;To create a market for your writing you have to be consistent, professional, a continuing writer &#8211; not just a one-article or a one-story or a one-book man.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_871\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-871\" class=\" wp-image-871\" title=\"zora-pic\" src=\"https:\/\/iforcolor.org\/word\/wp-content\/uploads\/zora-pic-300x190.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"190\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-871\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Zora Neale Hurston<\/strong><br \/><strong>&#8220;Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose. It is a seeking that he who wishes may know the cosmic secrets of the world and <\/strong>they<strong> that dwell therein.&#8221; &#8211; &#8220;Learning without wisdom is a load of books on a donkey&#8217;s back.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<h2>Want to contact us? * <a href=\"mailto:Info@Iforcolor.org\">Info@Iforcolor.org\u00a0<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>*<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dale Ricardo Shields<\/strong> is a 2017 winner of The Kennedy Center\/Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teacher Award\u00ae. He is the 2021 winner of the Paul Robeson Award, presented (jointly) by the Actors Equity Association and the Actors Equity Foundation, the 2017 AUDELCO\/&#8221;VIV&#8221; Special Achievement Award, 2017 and 2015 Tony\u00ae Award nominee for the Excellence in Theatre Education Award, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 ENCORE AWARD \/ The Actors Fund.<\/p>\n<p>Recently, he won the 2022 Legend Award &#8211; (alma mater) at Ohio University.<\/p>\n<p>His extensive professional credits as a Director, Stage manager, and Actor (Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, and Regional) As an actor he has appeared on Saturday Night Live, Another World, Guiding Light, The Cosby Show, and ITV television series &#8220;Special Needs&#8221; and National commercials and film.<\/p>\n<p>He is a member of the Actors Equity Association, Screen Actors Guild, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the American Guild of Musical Artists performance unions, Music, Theater, and Dance Professionals in the Academy (MTDPA), and an associate member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers.<\/p>\n<p>Professor Shields began his artistic academic career in New York City at Playwrights Horizon, The South Bronx Action Theatre, and MindBuilders, and was invited to join the teaching staff at the Joseph Papp Public Theatre (New York Shakespeare Festival) for six years. He represented the United States for Theatre Young Audiences at the ASSITEJ Theatre Festival in London, England.<\/p>\n<p>As an actor, he studied acting at The Negro Ensemble Company (Anderson Johnson), The New Federal Theatre (Hal Scott-Dick Anthony Williams) and The National Improvisational Theatre in New York City. Additional acting workshops with Dorothy Silver (Karamu House) and The Cleveland Playhhouse.<\/p>\n<p>He has been a professor and visiting artist at Ohio University, The South Bronx Community Theatre, Karamu House, The Cleveland School of the Arts, The College of Wooster, Denison University, Macalester College, Susquehanna University, The Cleveland Playhouseand SUNY Potsdam.<\/p>\n<p>B.F.A and M.F.A &#8211; Ohio University. [Phi Kappa Phi Honor Soceity]<\/p>\n<p>Website(s) &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>Research &#8211; Iforcolor.org [Theatre and Black Studies\/Artistic Diversity Research]<\/p>\n<p>Career &#8211; https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Dale_Ricardo_Shields [Career]<\/p>\n<div class=\"so-widget-sow-editor so-widget-sow-editor-base\">\n<div class=\"siteorigin-widget-tinymce textwidget\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style type=\"text\/css\" class=\"panels-style\" data-panels-style-for-post=\"794\">@import url(http:\/\/www.iforcolor.org\/word\/wp-content\/plugins\/siteorigin-panels\/css\/front-flex.min.css); #pgc-794-0-0 { width:100%;width:calc(100% - ( 0 * 30px ) ) } #pl-794 #panel-794-0-0-0 {  } #pl-794 .so-panel { margin-bottom:30px } #pl-794 .so-panel:last-child { margin-bottom:0px } #pg-794-0.panel-no-style, #pg-794-0.panel-has-style > .panel-row-style { -webkit-align-items:flex-start;align-items:flex-start } @media (max-width:780px){ #pg-794-0.panel-no-style, #pg-794-0.panel-has-style > .panel-row-style { -webkit-flex-direction:column;-ms-flex-direction:column;flex-direction:column } #pg-794-0 > .panel-grid-cell , #pg-794-0 > .panel-row-style > .panel-grid-cell { width:100%;margin-right:0 } #pl-794 .panel-grid-cell { padding:0 } #pl-794 .panel-grid .panel-grid-cell-empty { display:none } #pl-794 .panel-grid .panel-grid-cell-mobile-last { margin-bottom:0px }  } <\/style>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 The WORD iforcolor The\u00a0\u00a0Poetry of my Friends\u00a0 &nbsp; Conni Blair\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0Wizzy Dorceus\u00a0 *\u00a0 Jessica Elsayed \u00a0* Brandon Hummons * Eva Withers-Evans\u00a0 Renee Matthews Jackson\u00a0 * \u00a0Lennie Johnson III * Toni King\u00a0\u00a0*\u00a0\u00a0Melony McGant\u00a0 *\u00a0 Autumn Stiles *Arthur Wilson *\u00a0\u00a0Miwa Tsutsui Created by Dale Ricardo [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-794","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iforcolor.org\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iforcolor.org\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iforcolor.org\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iforcolor.org\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iforcolor.org\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=794"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.iforcolor.org\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1169,"href":"https:\/\/www.iforcolor.org\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/794\/revisions\/1169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iforcolor.org\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}