Brenda Greene
Dr. Brenda M. Greene, a native Brooklyn resident, is a scholar, educational leader, author, literary activist, and radio host at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York. Dr. Greene is also the highly respected Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Black Literature[1], the Director of the National Black Writers Conference[2], and the former Chair of the English Department at Medgar Evers College.[3] Prior to her work in the academy, Dr. Greene also worked as an educator in the New York City Public School system, and with civic and political organizations, to enrich and engage the community-at-large. Since 2004, she has served as a radio host on WNYE Radio, connecting listeners to some of today’s most accomplished writers. And she is the former Board Chair of the Nkiru Center for Education and Culture (co-founded by hip hop icons Yasiin Bey and Talib Kweli).
Early Life
Brenda M. Greene was born October 29, 1950, in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. She attended public schools in Queens and Brooklyn. Her alma mater is Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, New York. She obtained her BS in English Education at New York University, her MA at Hunter College of the City University of New York, and her PhD in Composition and Rhetoric at New York University.
Personal Life
Brenda M. Greene is the mother of Talib Kweli Greene, an internationally known hip hop artist, and Jamal K. Greene, Professor of Constitutional Law at Columbia University[4]. She has five grandchildren.
Educational and Professional Leadership
Dr. Greene’s educational leadership and professional accomplishments span over 40 years. She served as Director of the Right to Read Program at Malcolm King College Harlem Extension before coming to Medgar Evers College in 1980. During her tenure at Medgar Evers, she has taught an array of courses in composition, literature, and African American literature, served on curriculum, program, assessment, and accreditation committees, and held many administrative positions within Medgar Evers College and within the City University of New York. She has spent a lifetime working in and building cultural arts institutions that are dedicated to progressing Black life in Brooklyn and beyond. Powered by this mission, Greene has forged long-standing friendships and collaborations with many supportive individuals, including Sonia Sanchez, Susan Taylor, Danny Glover, Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, Marita Golden, Edwidge Danticat, Khalil Gibran, Tracy K. Smith, Colson Whitehead, a host of elected officials throughout New York, and many others. Similarly, her strategic partnerships with institutions such as the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, Amazon Literary Partnership, New-York Historical Society, African Voices, the Brooklyn Literary Council, the College of Education at Sacramento State, and others, have resulted in progressive programs and initiatives throughout the decades.
Having worked in the New York Public School system prior to teaching at MEC, Dr. Greene truly knows and values the importance of culturally relevant education and adjacent pedagogies. As founder and executive director of the Center for Black Literature (CBL), Dr. Greene has established a highly effective platform for expanding and enriching the public’s knowledge and appreciation of the literature produced by Black writers. That is accomplished in part because she has continued the tradition of presenting the legendary National Black Writers Conference, founded on campus by the late and beloved John Oliver Killens in 1986. CBL also presents and produces a wide range of original public programs that seek to improve students’ literacy and support their self-esteem, identity, and cultural awareness. Consistently, her visionary work is supported by grant-making and philanthropic organizations.
As a professional in English Studies, Dr. Greene has been an active member and served in leadership positions at the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). She has also led literary and writing seminars for the Council, and she has been a jurist for professional and literary organizations.
Radio Host
Dr. Greene hosts a weekly radio program, Writers on Writing[5], which features writers from the African diaspora discussing their novels, poems, plays, nonfiction, and their lives over the airwaves of WNYE, 91.5 FM. Since 2004, she has interviewed the full spectrum of Black writers—from debut novelists and indie writers to high-profile New York Times Best-Selling Authors. Her guests have included Elizabeth Alexander, Tracy K. Smith, Walter Mosely, David Dinkins, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Edwidge Danticat, Michael Eric Dyson, Cornel West, Haki R. Madhubuti, Amiri Baraka, Ishmael Reed, and Tananarive Due among others.
Edited Books
The African Presence and Influence on the Cultures of the Americas. (2010)[6]
Resistance and Transformation: Conversations with Black Writers. (2010)[7]
Meditations and Ascensions: Black Writers on Writing. (2008).[8]
Defining Ourselves: Black Writers in the 90s. (1999).[9]
Rethinking American Literature. (1997).[10]
Selected Essays
“Louise Meriwether: A Life of Writing and Activism”, Konch Magazine, Winter 2019.[11]
“Where Do We Go From Here?” Education Update, September/October, 2018.[12]
“Reflections on Tales of the Out and the Gone: Short Stories by Amiri Baraka.” Brilliant Flame: Amiri Baraka Poetry, Plays & Politics for the People. (2017)[13]
“The Myth of a Post-Racial Society.” http://www.essence.com.[14]
“Toni Morrison: Recreating the Master Narrative.” The Killens Journal of Arts and Letters. 2010.[15]
“Black Writers: The Transforming Power of Their Literature.” The Network Journal, 2008.[16]
“In the Beginning Was the Word” in Black Issues Book Review. 2007.[17]
“Beside Still Waters: Memories of the Paden Institute and Retreat for Writers of Color” in Black Issues Book Review. 2005.[18]
“Remembering as Resistance in the Literature of Women of Color” in Rethinking American Literature, 1996.[19]
“Addressing Race, Class and Gender in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God” in English Education. 1995.[20]
Selected Book Reviews
The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste, Neworld Review, (2020).[21]
The World According to Fannie Davis: My Mother’s Life in the Detroit Numbers by Bridgett Davis, Neworld Review, (2019).[22]
Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson. https://aalbc.com/books/bookreview,(2019)[23]
Louise Thomas Patterson, A Life of Struggle for Justice by Keith Gilyard (2017). https://aalbc.com/books/bookreview.[24]
The Light of the World by Elizabeth Alexander. Neworld Review (2016).[25]
Death Dance of a Butterfly by Melba Boyd. http://ishmaelreedpub.com/, (2014).[26]
The Classroom and The Cell: Conversations on Black Life in America by Marc Lamont Hill and Mumia Abu-Jamal, Neworld Review, 2011.[27]
I’m Black When I’m Singing, I’m Blue When I’m Not and Other Plays[28] by Sonia Sanchez. Neworld Review (2010).
Liberation Narratives: New and Collected Poems by Haki Madhubuti, Neworld Review (2009).[29]
Fanon: A Novel by John Edgar Wideman. Neworld (2009).[30]
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz Neworld Review (2009).[31]
Honors/Awards
Zora Neale Hurston Literary Award, Brooklyn United Scholarship Association, 2019.
Lifetime Achievement Award, Brooklyn Oldtimers Foundation, December 2017
Medgar Evers College Percy E. Sutton SEEK Women’s Empowerment Award, March 2016.
Medgar Evers College Community Council Educational Leadership Award, April 2015.
Lynnette Velasco Community Impact award from the Harlem Arts Festival, 2015.
Determined to Educate Leadership Award, 2014.
Harriet Jacobs Award for Excellence in Literature, Greater Queens LINKS-Arts Facet, 2013.
Arts and Culture Award, First Annual City College Celebration of Women in Arts and Culture, 2012.
Spirit of Africa Award for Achievements in the Creative Arts and in Connecting the World to the Works of Emerging and Established Writers of Color, 2010.
Gwendolyn Brooks Conference International Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent Inductee, 2010.
Phenomenal Women in the Media Award, Von King Cultural Park, March 2010
Betty Smith Arts Award, Brooklyn Borough President’s Office, March 2010.
National Conference of Artists Award for Excellence in the Promotion of Black Literature, 2009.
Interviews
Johnny Temple interviews Brenda Greene, Executive Director of the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York, http://www.akashicbooks.com/2013/10/.[32]
An Interview with Dr. Brenda Greene, A Driving Force Of Education, https://www.theodysseyonline.com/an-interview-with-dr-brenda-greene-driving-force-of-education.[33]
References
“Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College (CUNY)” in The SAGE Encyclopedia of African Cultural Heritage in North America. Eds. Mwalimu J. Shujaa & Kenya J. Shujaa. July 2015.[34]
“The National Black Writers Conference" in The SAGE Encyclopedia of African Cultural Heritage in North America. Eds. Mwalimu J. Shujaa & Kenya J. Shujaa. July 2015 [35]
External Links
Brenda M. Greene
Brenda M. Greene
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- ↑ "Center for Black Literature".
- ↑ "NBWC". Center for Black Literature.
- ↑ "Brenda Greene". Medgar Evers College.
- ↑ "Jamal Greene". Columbia Law School.
- ↑ "Writers on Writing". centerforblackliterature.
- ↑ Greene, Brenda (2010). The African presence and influence on the cultures of the Americas. Cambridge Scholars. p. 195. ISBN 978-1-4438-2216-9. Search this book on
- ↑ Greene, Brenda; Beauford, Fred (2010). Resistance and Transformation: Conversations with Black Writers (First ed.). Morton Books, Inc. p. 194. ISBN 1929188218. Search this book on ?tag=everybodywikien-20
- ↑ Greene, Brenda; Beauford, Fred (2008). Meditations and Ascensions: Black Writers on Writing. Third World Press. p. 204. ISBN 0883782960. Search this book on ?tag=everybodywikien-20
- ↑ Greene, Brenda; Nunez, Elizabeth (1999). Defining Ourselves: Black Writers in the 90s. Peter Lang Inc., International Academic Publishers. p. 250. ISBN 0820442615. Search this book on ?tag=everybodywikien-20
- ↑ Greene, Brenda; Brannon, Lil; Summer Institute for Teachers of Literature; National Council of Teachers of English (1997). Rethinking American Literature. Natl Council of Teachers. p. 274. ISBN 0814141196. Search this book on ?tag=everybodywikien-20
- ↑ Greene, Brenda. "Louise Meriwether: A Life of Writing and Activism". Konch Magazine (Winter 2019): 7.
- ↑ Greene, Brenda (2018). "Where Do We Go From Here?". Education Update Online (September/October).
- ↑ Brenda Greene (2016). "Reflections on Tales of the Out and the Gone: Short Stories by Amiri Baraka". In Madhubuti, Haki; Simanga, Michael; Sanchez, Sonia; King, Woodie. Brilliant Flame: Amiri Baraka Poetry, Plays and Politics for the People. Third World Press. ISBN 088378355X. Search this book on
- ↑ Greene, Brenda. "The Myth of a Post-Racial Society". Essence.
- ↑ Greene, Brenda (2010). "Toni Morrison: Recreating the Master Narrative". The Killens Review of Arts and Letters (Spring/Summer).
- ↑ Greene, Brenda (2008). "Black Writers: The Transforming Power of Their Literature". The Network Journal.
- ↑ Greene, Brenda (2007). "In the Beginning Was the Word...: Donda West—an English Professor Who Has Written a Book About Raising Her Hip-Hop Superstar Son Kanye West—Reflects on Issues of Language Literacy and Creativity". Black Issues Book Review. 9 (3): 20–23.
- ↑ Greene, Brenda (2005). "Beside Still Waters: Memories of the Paden Institute and Retreat for Writers of Color". Black Issues Book Review. 7 (4): 38.
- ↑ Greene, Brenda (1996). "Remembering as Resistance in the Literature of Women of Color". Rethinking American Literature (PDF). National Council of Teachers of English. pp. 97–114. ISBN 9780814141199. Search this book on
- ↑ Greene, Brenda (1995). "Addressing Race, Class, and Gender in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God: Strategies & Reflections". English Education. 27 (4): 268–276.
- ↑ Greene, Brenda (2020). "The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste". Neworld Review. 13 (88).
- ↑ Greene, Brenda (2019). "The World According to Fannie Davis: My Mother's Life in the Detroit Numbers". Neworld Review.
- ↑ Greene, Brenda. "Book Review: Red at the Bone". aalbc.com. African American Literature Book Club.
- ↑ Greene, Brenda. "Book Review: Louise Thomas Patterson, A Life of Struggle for Justice by Keith Gilyard". aalbc.com. African American Literature Book Club.
- ↑ Greene, Brenda. "Book Review: The Light of the World by Elizabeth Alexander". Neworld Review.
- ↑ Greene, Brenda. "Book Review: Death Dance of a Butterfly by Melba Boyd". Konch Magazine. Konch Magazine.
- ↑ Greene, Brenda. "Neworld Review On line book review site: Index Page". Neworld Review.
- ↑ Greene, Brenda. "Book Review: I'm Black When I'm Singing, I'm Blue When I'm Not and Other Plays". Neworld Review.
- ↑ Greene, Brenda. "Book Review: Liberation Narratives: New and Collected Poems by Haki Madhubuti". Neworld Reviews.
- ↑ Greene, Brenda. "Book Review: Fanon: A Novel by John Edgar Wideman". Neworld Review.
- ↑ Greene, Brenda. "Book Review: The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz". Neworld Review.
- ↑ "Johnny Temple interviews Brenda Greene, Executive Director of the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York". Akashic Books.
- ↑ "An Interview With Dr. Brenda Greene, A Driving Force Of Education". The Odyssey Online.
- ↑ Shujaa, Mwalimu J.; Shujaa, Kenya J. (eds.). "Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College (CUNY), Brenda M. Greene". The SAGE Encyclopedia of African Cultural Heritage in North America. doi:10.4135/9781483346373.n94.
- ↑ Shujaa, Kenya J.; Shujaa, Mwalimu J. (eds.). "National Black Writers Conference, Brenda M. Greene". The SAGE Encyclopedia of African Cultural Heritage in North America. doi:10.4135/9781483346373.n214.
- ↑ www.centerforblackliterature.org
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/c/CenterforBlackLiteratureMedgarEversCollege
