We recently connected with Cathie Wright-Lewis and have shared our conversation below.

Cathie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the most important things small businesses can do, in our view, is to serve underserved communities that are ignored by giant corporations who often are just creating mass-market, one-size-fits-all solutions. Talk to us about how you serve an underserved community.

My business, Power in the Pen Writing Workshop Inc. was designed for Brownsville – one of the most underserved communities in Brooklyn, New York.

Brownsville is my childhood community. It is where I was nurtured and molded during the 1960’s and 70’s . It is the home of the first community school board, Black superintendent, and community-controlled schools. unfortunately, it was all short-lived. In 1968 when the mayor approved these new mandates, the teacher’s union fought against them and caused the first teacher’s strike in NYC. Since then, Brownsville has had the city’s worst literacy and math rates.
As a 10-year-old protestor who was bused for integration to ensure I’d have a decent education, I was greatly disturbed by the events I witnessed at JHS 271 -ground zero of the Battle for Equal Education. Although the Brownsville community has a reputation as “the most dangerous neighborhood in NYC,” I recall it as a powerful politically informed, and culturally rich community. To fulfill a debt I owed to the community’s artists/activists whose work impacted my life during The Black Arts Movement, I was compelled to “give back” Ater I served 35 years as an educator I returned and sought a home base and offered my services to Miriam Robertson, Executive Director of the Brownsville Heritage House who agreed to join forces and share her space free of charge, and Power in the Pen Writing Workshop was born.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Artist Statement
CATHIE WRIGHT-LEWIS

I am a poet, an author of allegorical afro-futuristic fiction, short stories and children’s literature but I also consider myself a visual and spiritual scribe. Before I can put a word on a page, I either see what I am about to write or I hear what I need to write, which is why I consider my work to be spiritual.

When I’m not writing, I serve as the executive director of Power in the Pen Writing Workshop Inc., a free weekly community-based writing workshop in Brownsville, Brooklyn where I have the privilege to support other writers complete their literary works and publish them. I believe every voice should be heard and I delight in creating a platform for the voiceless.

Over the last nine years, Brownsville and neighboring residents have shared and published their stories through our workshop and published them as well. we have also published five annual anthologies.

Personally, my novels are a trilogy of allegorical Afrofuturistic stories whispered to me by my ancestors in my sleep and sometimes when I was wide awake. They tell the legacy of an ancestor named Maurya who was stolen from West Africa like most of our ancestors, and brought to America to be a slave, their lives as activists in the present and the inconceivable lives they will live in the future. The titles are Maurya’s Seed – Why Hope Lives Behind Project Walls, Passion’s Pride – Return to the Dawning, and the third book, Miracle, has just been completed and will be available next year.

My work is a tribute to my ancestors and an opportunity to serve God, the Most High Source of life and light. Because my life has been a succession of miracles, I humbly and enthusiastically share my gifts. Writing is what I am compelled to do. And because I’m an educator from an underserved community, I am committed to raising the literacy level in my community,

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I began my 2nd career as CEO of my nonprofit Power in the Pen Writing Workshop after I retired from NYC’s Dept. of Education. as an English teacher/mentor and an English adjunct professor. I planned to share the same writing skills I taught my students with adults in the Brownsville community and inspire literacy in households through the adults.

I was also on a spiritual journey. I was healing from 3 car accidents and a kitchen fire which resulted in neck surgery and 3 skin grafts on my legs and thighs. My recovery was miraculous, and I needed to coach others who have faced life-changing challenges. So, I applied to Rev. Dr. Iyanla Vanzant’s Inner Visions Institute for Spiritual Life Coaching. The year-long program changed my perspective on life and helped me enhance my relationship with the Creator.

As a result, my writing workshop and spiritual life coaching have merged into a unique and dynamic healing through writing experience for everyone who attends. Most of the writers are penning their memoirs and writing poetry – both very intimate genres. The lessons and coaching flow naturally throughout the workshop as members struggle with writing as they reminisce about the most difficult times of their lives and, of course, the stories are powerful. They walk away changed and grateful and so do I. And their families, especially their children begin to write their stories too.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

I suggest to have a successful team, one must communicate often yet respectfully. I support my team to the best of my ability, especially through family issues and tragedies. We send financial assistance for funerals weddings and newborn babies. We send cards for illness and difficult situations in several capacities. We show up and create a family atmosphere among us.

I also believe in incentives. I treat my team to Broadway plays, movies, and conferences to both inspire them and make sure they enjoy literacy in every form. We also have a committee that helps with family affairs and keeps up with all of the current news.

I think what my team appreciates the most is that I include their children in our performances and publish their work in our annual anthologies. The entire family gets involved and receives rewards and amazing stories for life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://powerinthepenww.org/. https://www.cathiewrightlewis.com/#home-section
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nakistana/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cathie.wrightlewis
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cathiewrightlewis-5887529/
• Twitter: Catrageouser1
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=cathie+wright-lewis

Image Credits
Jarod Wright, Cathie Wright-Lewis