We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Patricia West. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Patricia below.
Hi Patricia, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
Pat West Author is an independent entity of one and that is me! As a retired educator, I have pushed the restart button to have more time to devote to my creative talents as a writer and communicator. About a year ago, I designed an icon to represent who I am today–Author Pat West: Writing Communities/Writing to Serve. To share the story behind my mission requires me to reflect back on my youthful days when I discovered a love for reading and writing, poetry in particular. I would sneak to read by the bathroom or hall light after bedtime. By the time I had started college, I had a notebook of handwritten verses that I wrote in response to the national, state, and local headlines of the day. I took my radical outlook straight to the college campus where I joined the newspaper staff. I’ll never forget the time the college president knocked on my door at the house where I still lived with my parents and seven siblings. Neither parent was home at the time, but the short of it is that I was threatened with getting expelled if I did not stop my writings. As I saw it, I wrote to improve conditions on campus, but the administration at the time did not see it that way. I still write to this day to improve communities and people.
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.
As stated before, I am a retired educator. I spent several decades teaching the art of writing and literary appreciation from middle school ELA to college composition, and a graduate level course for ELA teachers. There are so many details-good and bad- packed in all those years! I always swore that after college graduation, I would never teach! Here is the store that led to a drastic reversal. As an activist and quiet public library worker, I was involved in a few community projects such as the Port City Business and Professional Women’s Club, which was an affiliate of the national BPW. One year we got the crazy idea to invite Rep. Shirley Chisholm to come speak in Savannah. Yep, THE Shirley Chisholm. I was tasked with writing the invitational letter and I did. To our surprise, she accepted. For the occasion, I wrote a poem and read it at the event which attracted a packed audience. Afterwards, hiring administrators from the Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools approached me and said, “We need you!” Several weeks later, I started and began my purpose and the mantra that came to be, “Teaching is my ministry.”
On many occasions, I would end up being the writing point person. For example, I was the ghost writer or speechwriter for local politicians and helped to seat many from the mayor’s office to the state house. It was my work for former State Rep. Jessie A. Blackshear (GA House District 163) that was the most meaningful and lasting. Just a few days before this interview Rev. Blackshear called to inform me that work to gather and preserve information about the tragic explosion
on February 3, 1971 in Woodbine, GA was used to inform producers of the documentary, ” The Day that Shook Georgia” when 29 people were killed at the Thiokol Chemical Plant. Thanks to this documentary and the film “Shirley” I realize the lasting value of writing for change.
No matter what I do for a paycheck, my work as a creative writer is always key. I found a way to make room for my writing and creativity, no matter what. Over the years, my identity as a creative person has taken on different titles: freelance writer, academic journal author, literary critic, poet, and essayist. There is nothing like the thrill of seeing that byline, as I said to a colleague recently. Why? In my case, the opportunities for publishing were scarce. At one time, I would write weekly community news stories for The Savannah Herald, an African- American newspaper. Occasionally, I would also write for The Savannah Tribune.
Today, my creativity includes designing fliers, presentations, or writing grant applications. The beneficiaries are usually a committee, board, or church group.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Because of my stage in life, I thought that becoming a published author was beyond my reach, but in 2020, I took that Shirley Chisholm attitude of being “unbought and unbossed” and decided to step out on my own! No more waiting for approval of some agent or major publisher. I kept my poetry hidden and away from public view, until I got the courage to not only publish, but perform.
Going on this journey to creative expression has not been easy. Life experiences have interrupted on the way–the usual bad relationships, tragic deaths in the family, illness, and financial hardships. I was raised to be an overcomer by watching the examples set by strong women in my life!
My mother Annabell West always taught her six daughters to be strong and not ever give up to controlling forces. If we did not have a man to help move furniture around, we had to work together to put things in place. Life is still like that. Sometimes we have to push and pull against all types of situations that require resilience–overt racism, subtle microaggressions, sexism, and being overworked and underpaid. I fight through it all and maintain a smile on my face.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
As someone in the field of education, one must be ready to pivot, especially when change comes like a slap in the face. One is at the mercy of national, state, and educational policies that may go against one’s sense of right of wrong. The days of prescribed school reform that took away a teacher’s autonomy were too much for me. We were judged and evaluated according to a list of rules. One day, an administrator walked into my classroom and marked me down because I did not have a sign that read “Classroom Library” over the obvious and well-used collection determined by my students and me with attention to diversity and highly interesting and relevant stories and youth novels. Because of this and other similar experiences, I eagerly accepted the offer to teach at Armstrong Atlantic State University, which is now the Georgia Southern Armstrong campus. I stayed there for three years to direct the Coastal Georgia Writing Project and teach composition–a rewarding decision! I ultimately ended up as English department head at Savannah Technical College for two years, and at Savannah State University where I remained for 10 years.
At the higher ed level, I had more time and opportunities to write and publish so I pivoted from a community newspaper contributor to writing for academic scholars and presenting at conferences. I started this conversation by describing myself as a re-created identity, but that is what happens when change comes. One last story–when I resigned from Savannah Technical College, a loved and memorable experience, my next job was at Uncle Bubba’s, one of the Paula Deen restaurants. I was out of my element, but I would rather do customer relations than work in education below my ethical standards. I’ll never forget the evening I walked into the ladies room and it was a complete mess with tissue paper thrown all over. One of the guests said to me, ” I was wondering when the maid was going to come in.” There I was, working on a doctorate degree at an institution which only accepted the top 15 percent of applicants, and I was still seen as a black ‘maid’ in the American South. You see, there is no stability for some people, but that is alright as long as I end up better at each turn. My faculty job at Savannah State resulted in my new title-assistant professor!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://booklife.com/project/still-water-words-poems-and-stories-from-ancestral-places-47675
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100032787085828
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/authorprofpatwest