Page 3 - Florida Sentinel 8-23-19

Feature
Local Writer Gets Poetry Published In Magazine
BY GWEN HAYES Sentinel Editor
My Mama Always Said is the title of the pub- lished poetry.
Although employed as a Children’s Counselor, where she works closely with women and their children, Ms. Le’Tanya Stone says her first love is writing. Be- cause of this, she recently had a piece of her work pub- lished in a magazine. She was one of several students whose work was published. “Mama Always Said” was published a few months ago in The Atrium Review.
“Mama Always Said” shares the story of a son (Black male), who reflects on the words of his mother. His mother attempted to warn him of the dangers in his choices and decisions. The poem goes on to discuss the dangers in street life, the so- cietal expectations that some young Black males have,
without the consideration for their own communities.
She said, “Life is full of choices and it is up to each of us which choice we decide to make. I choose to do the best I can, and more importantly, I choose to be a blessing to those who are in need and waiting for the day that their choices become their bless- ings.”
As a child, Ms. Stone was encouraged by her fa- ther, Gerald Stone, to read the daily newspaper (The Tampa Tribune). At the age of 9, she was reading “I Know Why The Caged Birds Sing” by Dr. Maya An- gelou. After reading this novel, her father had her to do a full book report.
“It was then that I began to write stories, making up characters, from personality, style, plots and settings. It's funny because I knew to give the story a protagonist and antagonist, long before I knew what it was,” she ex- plains.
LE’TANYA STONE
Ms. Stone completed
work on her Bachelor’s De- gree in April and on Satur- day, August 24, 2019, she will receive a degree in Human Services with con- centration in Addiction Counseling from Springfield College.
At Springfield, one of the requirements is writing, she said. Her professors soon no- ticed her talent of writing and helped her to work on her craft. They created the
Brown Bag Open Mic that al- lowed students to write and share their work.
“It was scary at first,” she said. “But I became comfort- able and it seemed like my classmates wanted to hear my next poem at each Open Mic. I’m grateful that Spring- field taught its students to express themselves through literature and activism.”
The staff at Springfield established a writers’ group, which selected a handful of students to take to the
Florida’s Writing Conven- tion. From the convention, the students became mem- bers of The Florida Writers Association. The students wrote and submitted their works to be published in the magazine.
Ms. Stone, who is also the daughter of Mrs. Ernes- tine Stone, will begin gradu- ate school next month, studying to become a Li- censed Mental Health Thera- pist.
“My goals are to one day open a private practice spe- cializing is trauma in women and PTSD. I also hope to au- thor a few books along the way,” she said. “I may even pen my life story with hopes of helping another woman who may find themselves going through some of the experiences I triumphed through.”
She then adds that the world is full of so many op- portunities. She may even write a book of poetry, or fic- tional books, her favorites.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2019 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 3-A