Jolivette Anderson-Douoning M.A. is a native of Shreveport, LA. She spent10 years in Mississippi as an artist, community organizer and activist. Jolivette earned a B.A in Speech/Theater from Louisiana Tech University and a M.A in Humanities/Liberal Studies from Grambling State University. Jolivette designed and implemented a Cultural Identity Curriculum called the D. Ciphers Language Migration: Explorations in Reading, Writing & Critical Thinking in response to the needs of African American public school students. The program is active at Lanier High School in Jackson, MS. She has conducted mini workshops of the curriculum in the Caribbean, Oxford, England, Central America and throughout the U.S in schools and universities. She has been facilitator of the nationally recognized Young People's Project Reading, Writing Workshop, a coordinator for the Algebra Project, and is a current member of the Algebra Project Quality Education Committee. Anderson is former producer of the Mississippi Cipher Poetry Radio Show on WMPR, Mississippi Vibes Open Mic Poetry Set, and Sister Talk of Jackson. She has opened concerts for Patti LaBelle and Brian McKnight and has been heard on PBS Continental Harmonies Series and on Public Radio International and National Public Radio as Narrator for a documentary on Race and Terrorism titled American as Apple Pie: How Terrorism Lost in America. Jolivette has worked with elders of the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Arts Movement, including Rosa Parks, Bob Moses, Kalamu ya Salaam, Haki Madhubuti and The Last Poets. She considers herself to be a bridge between the traditions and legacies of the Civil Rights Movement and the current generation of young people. She is author and publisher of a poetry book and three spoken word CDs. Jolivette has been featured in Upscale Magazine (2001) and in Marie Claire Magazine UK Edition (2002).

To contact Ms. Anderson-Douoning, email jjanderson@purdue.edu