Creating Literary Hummingbirds

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Literary Hummingbirds

As a single mother I have limited funds for creative projects.

I am a poet, writer & published author. My pen name is Kourtney Nicole Writes: Literary Hummingbird.

This concept came to mind after I read a book about my idol, Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan social, environmental, and political activist and the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. She was inspired by the

"The Story of the Hummingbird."

The Story of the Hummingbird

One day a terrible fire broke out in a forest - a huge woodlands was suddenly engulfed by a raging

wild fire. Frightened, all the animals fled their homes and ran out of the forest. As they came to the

edge of a stream they stopped to watch the fire and they were feeling very discouraged and

powerless. They were all bemoaning the destruction of their homes. Every one of them thought

there was nothing they could do about the fire, except for one little hummingbird.

This particular hummingbird decided it would do something. It swooped into the stream and picked

up a few drops of water and went into the forest and put them on the fire. Then it went back to the

stream and did it again, and it kept going back, again and again and again. All the other animals

watched in disbelief; some tried to discourage the hummingbird with comments like, "Don't bother,

it is too much, you are too little, your wings will burn, your beak is too tiny, it’s only a drop, you

can't put out this fire."

And as the animals stood around disparaging the little bird’s efforts, the bird noticed how hopeless

and forlorn they looked. Then one of the animals shouted out and challenged the hummingbird in a

mocking voice, "What do you think you are doing?" And the hummingbird, without wasting time or

losing a beat, looked back and said, "I am doing what I can."

My idea is to create literary hummingbirds who out sing their archenemy the Jim Crow known as institutionalized racism.

In other words, I want to foster a love of writing in young readers particularly readers of color. I envision  teenagers who gravitate to reading books instead of using drugs. Our children need to develop advanced reading skills & improve reading comprehension. I want to establish a "Reading to Freedom" program. Dr. Seuss once said, "the more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go."  Per the Florida Department of Education website, our local elementary schools: Warrington Elementary, C.A. Weis & Holm Elementary have been identified in our school district as having the lowest reading scores. Reading to Freedom provides relatable ethnocentric books for children who come from diverse backgrounds.  Reading to Freedom bridges the gap to limited access to diverse books.  Reading to Freedom will have "biographies that allowed readers to get to know Black people as human beings, who like to learn, create, love, dream--who make important contributions to our world," quoted in the article, Black History Is American History: WHY WE SHOULD CELEBRATE YEAR ROUND.

Now picture a child reaching for a pen to write short stories versus reaching for a gun. I would like to create a Kourtney Nicole Writes workshop to help students improve writing skills. Legendary author Toni Morrison said, "If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it." Our underserved students need to innerstand they matter & their opinions matter. All students should feel comfortable writing from their hearts.

When the youth go to bookstores & libraries it's my vision to see the children wear our sky blue t shirts with the image of a hummingbird with the caption: "I am a literary hummingbird." The message is: "I tune out negativity & anything oppressive that impedes my ability to reach greatness. I am ignoring, humming &  focusing on reaching my goals. I am determined to do what I can to make the world a better place while I am here."

The hummingbird image will be printed & trimmed with Fiskars 8 inch fashion scissors & will be sublimated on the shirt. It's actually dyed into the fabric.



I included a song by Kesha Shantrell, titled "Hummingbird." She sings about a hummingbird bird being free & wants to know what it feels like to be free. She shows her vulnerability by saying she wants the hummingbird to take her so they can both be free. I truly believe reading books will help enslaved minds reach freedom. Hence, why Reading to Freedom is in place.

Works cited

Escambia County Reading Plan 2019-2020 - Florida Department of Education. Retrieved from: http://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/7539/urlt/Escambia1920-K12RP.pdf

https://www.jiffyshirts.com/gildan-G500.html?ac=Sky

Black History Is American History: WHY WE SHOULD CELEBRATE YEAR ROUND.Tate, Don. "Black History Is American History: WHY WE SHOULD CELEBRATE YEAR ROUND." Knowledge Quest, vol. 49, no. 4, 2021, p. 46+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A656302991/AONE?u=123650_wfrl&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=b72bb203. Accessed 14 June 2021.

https://open.spotify.com/album/7lCtimH9xcy2t8VnCUlF7d?si=4hjVAAXuTIevLxwgzq8zQg&utm_source=copy-link&dl_branch=1

https://www.fiskars.com/en-us/crafting-and-sewing/products/scissors-and-shears/fashion-scissors-floral-8-194512-1052