As a child in Meridian, Miss., Treasure Shields Redmond donned special shoes nearly every Sunday — a black patent leather pair that skipped after her mother as they walked to the Baptist church.
By high school, she’d traded her Mary Janes for Nikes, and hymns like “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” for Public Enemy's “Party for Your Right to Fight.”
The daughter of East St. Louis Poet Laureate Eugene Redmond is now a poet and performing artist, and an English professor at Southwestern Illinois College. In our latest Cut & Paste podcast, we talk with Shields Redmond about using language and song as tools for social justice and illuminating women’s lives.
Here’s some of what you’ll hear in the podcast:
- About her Baptist upbringing in Meridian, Miss.: “In many ways, the church gave me permission to be an artist.”
- Her mother on literary icon James Baldwin: "He could stone-cold write!”
- On poets being appreciated only after the passing of time: “And then later, people go, ‘Well, now wasn’t that person brilliant?’”
Look for new Cut & Paste (#cutpastestl) podcasts every few weeks on our website. You can also view all previous podcasts focusing on a diverse collection of visual and performing artists, and subscribe to Cut & Paste through this link.
Follow Willis and Nancy on Twitter: @WillisRArnold and @NancyFowlerSTL
Please help St. Louis Public Radio find artists to feature on Cut & Paste. Tell us which artists and cultural themes deserve a closer look.
