Biography
Khadijah Z. Ali-Coleman, Ed.D. is a cultural curator, community organizer, nationally recognized speaker, and writer. Her work centers the social and political life experiences, history, and culture of the people of the African diaspora. A playwright, she has had more than a dozen of her plays presented publicly in venues throughout the country, including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Theater Alliance, and Baltimore Theater Project. She was a Theater Alliance Quadrant Playwright from 2019-2021, a 2019 Fulbright-Hays scholar, a 2015 Maryland State Arts Council Independent Artist awardee and a 2012 Prince George’s County Social Innovation Fund Forty Under 40 awardee. She is author of the children’s book Mariah’s Maracas and co-editor of the book Homeschooling Black Children in the US: Theory, Practice and Popular Culture. Her work is featured in the anthology The Fire Inside: Collected Stories and Poems from Zora’s Den (ZD, 2020) and the book Afro-Futurism in Black Panther: Gender, Identity and the Remaking of Blackness (Rowan & Littlefield, 2021).
Dr. Ali-Coleman served as the 2020 Scholar-in-Residence at Prince George’s County African American Museum and Cultural Center (PGAAMCC) where she also served as a teaching artist. She curated and presented her family history and that of four other families through the exhibit Flying Towards Freedom during her time at PGAAMCC. As an educator, she has created and led educational programs for over 20 years at numerous organizations, recently serving as the Director of Education and Community Engagement for Montgomery Community Media (MCM). She is founder of the multidisciplinary arts group Liberated Muse, co-founder of the education research group Black Family Homeschool Educators and Scholars (BFHES) and currently serving as the executive director of the nonprofit Hurston/Wright Foundation.
Dr. Ali-Coleman holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Studies (African American Studies and Mass Media) and a minor in Writing from the University of Maryland Baltimore, County; a Master of Arts degree in Mass Communication from Towson University and a doctorate in education from Morgan State University in Higher Education/Community College Leadership.
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The Positive Impact of Homeschooling Black Children
Read the Baltimore Times article here.
Dr. Ali-Coleman has been homeschooling her own daughter off and on for 13 years in addition to being a researcher on homeschooling in the Black community. She crafted this short film above for a recent appearance in the 5th annual Black Sustainability Summit that was virtual in 2020.
BLACK FAMILY HOMESCHOOL EDUCATORS & SCHOLARS
Black Family Homeschool Educators and Scholars (BFHES), LLC was started in April 2020 by Black homeschool researchers Dr. Cheryl Fields-Smith and Dr. Khadijah Ali-Coleman. BFHES is a pioneering educational research group that integrates research and community practice through the publication of scholarly work and engagement of homeschool practitioners.
In summer 2020, Dr. Ali-Coleman and Dr. Cheryl Fields-Smith implemented the inaugural BFHES Virtual Teach-In, featuring over 20 speakers and attracting over 200 participants for a seven day event. In tandem with this event, BFHES coordinated a call for submissions for the forthcoming book, Homeschooling Black Children in the US: Theory, Practice & Popular Culture. Twelve authors were selected to contribute a compelling chapter for this publication which will be released in spring 2021. In September 2020, the BFHES co-founders became the editorial team managing the Information Age Publishing series, Contemporary Perspectives on Black Homeschooling. The book, Homeschooling Black Children in the US: Theory, Practice & Popular Culture, will be the first book published in the series.
BFHES continues to engage with the Black homeschooling community through monthly “tea talks” and maintaining a burgeoning community of homeschool educators via Facebook. As of this writing, the group has surpassed 1,100 members since its start in July 2020. The BFHES mission is to provide ongoing community engagement regarding black homeschooling through (1) the publication of scholarly and trade work on the topic, and (2) the production of community events targeting black homeschool familites and entrepreneurs engaged in the practice of black homeschooling. BFHES is the first US-based research and education group dedicated specifically to the topic of black family homeschooling.
Playwright of the People
A playwright, Khadijah Z. Ali-Coleman has had more than a dozen of her plays presented publicly in venues throughout the country, including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Theater Alliance, and Baltimore Theater Project. She was selected as a Theater Alliance Quadrant Playwright in 2019, working on a commissioned play that was presented as a film by Theater Alliance in 2021.
Theater Alliance invited four playwrights from their Hothouse New Play Development program to create new plays anchored in each of the four quadrants of Washington, DC. By working with local organizations in each of these communities, the writers explored the issues, histories, and hopes from each part of our vibrant city. Ther production was titled City In Transition: The Quadrant Series.
City In Transition: The Quadrant Series was written by Khadijah Z. Ali-Coleman, Avery Collins, Shalom Omo-Osagie, and Leslie Scott-Jones. Directed by Raymond O. Caldwell. Featuring Morgan Booth, Melissa Carter, Morgan Charece, Molly Cohen, Kelsey Delemar, Bayou Elom, Dylan Fleming, Charles Franklin IV, Nathanael Hatchett, Emmanuel Kyei-Baffour, Melanie Lawrence, Janelle Odom, Jennifer Osborn, Shannon Palmer, Llogan Peters, Nia Savoy, Kayla Warren, Kevin Thorne, Daniel Young.
Teaching Artist, Speaker and Facilitator
From 2019-2020, Dr. Ali-Coleman worked with the Prince George's County African-American Museum and Cultural Center as a teaching artist and Scholar-In-Residence fellow. As a teaching artist, she worked with students at Annapolis Road Academy Alternative High School. Annapolis Road Academy is one of two alternative academy programs in Prince George's County, MD with a primary focus on students in grades 9 through 10 who are experiencing behavioral and attendance concerns in the regular classroom setting. Dr. Ali-Coleman used a multi-disciplinary approach with the students, teaching the history of the Piscataway native people of Maryland and the Guinea people of Africa and their early existence in Maryland during colonial times. Using the drum as a centerpiece for learning and arts creation, she led the children in activities centered on identity, culture and communication, executed through designing drums and crafting spoken word pieces. She also facilitated a tribal drum workshop for families in the museum during the Kwanzaa season.
Curator and Scholar-in-Residence
Dr. Ali-Coleman has produced, lead curated or co-curated over three dozen exhibits, festivals, and multi-disciplinary events since 2001.
Highlights include:
- The exhibit Flying Towards Freedom: Migration Stories of Maryland Families which was presented by the museum and installed at the Prince George's County Memorial Library System's Oxon Hill branch. The exhibit ran from February 2020 to the end of March 2020. The exhibit, inspired by the book Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, featured the historical journey of Black families who migrated to Maryland, including her own family.
- The visual arts exhibit unboxed/unbroken: A Celebration of Black Resilience for the 2018 Kwanzaa in August festival that took place at the Anacostia Arts Gallery in Washington, D.C. This exhibit featured work by Patrick Smith, ZO, Malandela Zulu, Hook E. Free and more.
- The monthly forum titled, Sunday Scholar Salon held at the Prince George's County African American Museum and Cultural Center during her tenure as Scholar-in-Residence. The topics drew from her educational and professional expertise in education, arts, African-American history and culture.
- The film festival unboxed/unbroken for the 2018 Kwanzaa in August festival that took place at the Anacostia Arts Gallery in Washington, D.C. This film festival featured work by Pamela Woolford, Kia Reed, and Cynthia Dorsey.
- The Read, a showcase of short plays for the 2018 Kwanzaa in August festival that took place at the Anacostia Arts Gallery in Washington, D.C. This play readings featured work by Ebony Rosemond and Deirdre Gantt.
- The Capital Hip Hop Soul Festival (curated the performace stages and served as operations manager 2008-2010) featuring over three dozen performers over three summers, including Kenny Wesley, Tamika Love Jones, Deja Belle, Christylez Bacon, Substantial, Mello D and the Rados, Godiseus, The 5th L, Teisha Marie, Cool Cee Brown, and more.
- Creative Creatives Creating (C3) Performance Series that was staged at the Red Lion Hotel (Baltimore, MD), Alice's Jazz and Cultural Society (Washington, DC) and virtually (curated performance stage 2016-2020) featuring performances by over a dozen artists including Dior Ashley Brown, Olu Butterfly, The Bangladesh Project, Madeline Farrington, Too Much Damn Theatre, Terry Borderline, Enoch 7th Prophet, Quinton Randall, and more.
- The GRIND film festival (2018) at Morgan State University, presented by the MSU Graduate Student Association
ask Dr. Ali-Coleman for help!
Dr. Khadijah Ali-Coleman offers homeschooling parents tips through an online series on YouTube that can be viewed here.
For private consultation, email her directly at info@liberatedmuse.com
Liberated Muse Arts Group
Liberated Muse Arts Group is a multi-disciplinary professional arts organization founded in 2008 by Dr. Khadijah Ali-Coleman. Liberated Muse began as an online digital community and existed in that form for four year before becoming a touring troupe and production house for music, books, film and theater. Liberated Muse has presented festivals, signature community events and artist meet-ups including the Capital Hip Hop Soul Festival, the Kwanzaa in August Festival, #theSPILL and Creative Creatives Creating (C3) Open Mic and Performance Series. Dr. Ali-Coleman has edited three volumes of literary and visual art through Liberated Muse, including How I Freed My Soul, Betrayal Wears a Pretty Face, and Creases Expelled from the Fold.
Liberated Muse's performance troupe has been featured at The John F. Kennedy Center, Baltimore Book Festival, Artscape Festival, ARTOMATIC festival, DC Public Library System, Smithsonian Anacostia Museum, United States Peace Corps, Light City Festival and other libraries, museums and educational institutions.
Recent News
News media featuring the work of Dr. Ali-Coleman
