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A Park Stands on All of Our Graves
Ali-Coleman, Khadijah Z

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What is the point in learning how to write if you can just type in a prompt to an AI bot and have them shoot out a thought? The point is that writing is a process. It relies on the writer’s experience to convey authenticity, and relevance. That relevance makes impact. Besides, we are all becoming acclimated to the robotic faux charm of AI writing. Whether it is the five line sentences of gooey politeness, or the psychotic number of em dash placements, AI has a style of its own that is hard to pass off as your own writing nowadays. So, why try when you can just write your own content? Writing is a skill that is valuable for everyone, not just the ones who enjoy writing creatively or as a therapeutic tool. Writing helps you build your critical thinking by requiring you to organize your thoughts. It relies on you to form logical arguments and use language in a way that is precise and consistent. These skills are transferable into the ways you speak and make decisions. Writing should not be what you give up to an AI robot sitting in the wings. You can engage with them as a proofreader, perhaps, but don’t pass the reins when it comes to doing the heavy lifting of developing your thoughts and having the thought to begin with. Writing is the intellectual terrain where our humanity shines. What are the ways you are engaging with AI while still engaging in the practice of writing your own ideas?

- KhadijahOnline

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Today, My Dad Died by KhadijahOnline

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Homeschooling and Socialization by KhadijahOnline

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Kujichagulia means Self-Determination.

- KhadijahOnline

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My poetry book that was released in 2023 is now on Audible! Thanks to a 2024 Artist Fellowship Grant from PGAHC, was able to have soundscapes created by BenBetaMusic for the audiobook version. Give it a listen at https://amzn.to/4qKhIav

- KhadijahOnline

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I am still navigating the Substack metaverse and have shared some gems so far. Check them out. I talk Black Homeschooling, Middle-Age & Black Women and Social Justice.

- KhadijahOnline

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Dr. Ali-Coleman reading from her books in 2025 during a feature in the Wilde Series at Queen Takes Book bookstore in Columbia, MD.

Dr. Ali-Coleman standing with other honorees and former UMBC dean, Dr. Kimberly Moffit (second from right) after receiving the 2024 Outstanding UMBC Alumni award.

Dr. Ali-Coleman with participants in her workshop, "Crafting Compelling Narratives: Mastering the Three-Act Structure " during the 2024 DC Public Library Find Your Story Writers Festival.

Dr. Ali-Coleman with participants in her 2024 workshop, "Writing for Liberation" presented by MahoganyBooks bookstore at the National Harbor in Maryland.

Dr. Ali-Coleman with participants in her workshop, "Developing a Liberation-Centered Writing Practice," presented by Black Writers for Peace and Social Justice, Inc. in partnership with Prince George's County Memorial Library System.

About Dr. Khadijah 

Khadijah Z. Ali-Coleman, EdD is a community organizer and cultural architect with over 20 years of experience transforming spaces into vibrant arts and educational hubs. Her work interrogates perceptions of identity, justice, and place, often centering the lived experiences of Black women over 40. She served as the second Poet Laureate of Prince George's County, MD from 2023-2025.

Embracing her multifaceted identity as a creator, she is also the award-winning performance artist Khadijah Moon and a multi-genre writer whose work spans poetry, songwriting, playwriting, and filmmaking.  Her plays, songs, and poetry have been staged, workshopped, and read on dozens of stages, including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Theater Alliance, Anacostia Playhouse, the Baltimore Book Festival, National Harbor, ARTSCAPE, Capital Fringe Festival, and the Anacostia Arts Center. She has executive produced numerous digital, stage and recording projects, including her debut CD project, Song of a Space Cadet (2016), the Liberated Muse CD, Awakening (2018), the soundtrack, When We Were Goddesses (2017), Running: AMOK (2010), and the audio version of her book, The Summoning of Black Joy (2025). 

Her journalistic bylines have appeared in over 25 print and digital publications, including Pathways Magazine, EBONY, The Washington Informer, The Afro, East of the River Magazine, The Kappan, SoulBounce, Honey Magazine, SoulTrain.com, Romper, and, The Baltimore Times.

Dr. Ali-Coleman is the author of several poetry collections, including A Park Stands on All of Our Graves (2025), For the Girls Who Do Too Much (2024) and The Summoning of Black Joy (2023). She also authored the children’s book Mariah's Maracas (2018) and co-edited Homeschooling Black Children in the US: Theory, Practice and Popular Culture (2022). She is currently editing the forthcoming book, Homeschooling Black Children on a College Pathway, scheduled to print in 2026 by Black Writers for Peace and Social Justice, Inc.

Dr. Ali-Coleman with Baltimore City's Chief Storyteller, Alannah Nicole Davis (right), and TVOne's True Crime reporter, Nicki Mayo (left), panelists in 2025 during the Black Writers for Peace and Social Justice, Inc. Reading & Writing Matters series at Coppin State University she curates each season.

Dr. Ali-Coleman as a panelist in the 2023 International Black Writers Festival at Howard University.

Dr. Ali-Coleman performing a tribute to Zora Neale Hurston with her performance company, Liberated Muse, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2022.

Dr. Ali-Coleman with high school participants in Black Writers for Peace and Social Justice, Inc.'s first Youth Media Academy in 2024.

Dr. Khadijah Z. Ali-Coleman Keynote Address 

UMBC 2024 Winter Commencement Ceremony

In the News

Dr. Khadijah and her daughter, Khari were featured in this August 2025 article in The Baltimore Times that highlighted their experience as a homeschooling family. Dr. Khadijah homeschooled her daughter off and on during her P-12 years and graduated her from their family homeschool in 2021. Khari earned an associate's degree from the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) while homeschooling for high school and graduated from the University of San Francisco in 2024. Both women run Black Family Homeschool Educators and Scholars, LLC, serving other Black families choosing to homeschool.

Liberated Muse in the News

Liberated Muse presented their musical presentation, "The Soundtrack of Social Justice" at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC on Feb. 21, 2025 during the center's Social Impact endowment-funded programming. Less than a month previous to the show, Donald Trump had fired the center's executive director and replaced members of the board of directors. He then declared himself the president of the board. In response to this unprecedented disruption, screenwriter Shonda Rhimes resigned from the board and actress/producer Issa Rae canceled her paid ticket event that had sold out. Liberated Muse's director, Khadijah Z. Coleman decided to keep the date as an act of resistance to tyranny. Victor Blackwell of the CNN show, "First of All" interviewed her.
 

UPCOMING EVENTS


Sunday, January 18, 2026:
READING – With These Words-- a poetic tribute to MLK
4:00 PM EST | Virtual |  LEARN MORE


Tuesday, February 18, 2026:
WORKSHOP & READING: Liberation, Social Justice & Summoning Black Joy
Coastline College | Fountain Valley, CA 


Tuesday, March 10, 2026:
In Conversation with Author Toni Ann Johnson
7:00 PM EST | Red Emma's | Baltimore, MD | LEARN MORE

Monday, March 16-19, 2026:
POETRY RESIDENCY –Joe's Movement Emporium with William Beane Elementary School
Hillcrest Heights, MD

Tuesday, April 7, 2026:
In Conversation with Poet Khari Dawson
7:00 PM EST | Red Emma's | Baltimore, MD | LEARN MORE


Saturday, April 18, 2026:
WORKSHOP – The Business of Music & Performing Arts, Part of the 2025–2026 Business of Creativity Lecture & Workshop Series
1pm-4pm | Brentwood Arts Exchange | Brentwood, MD | LEARN MORE


                                          Watch Now

Black Writers for Peace and Social Justice (BWPSJ) was founded in 2024 to publish work by Black writers, provide skill-building learning experiences for Black writers and offer administrative training and services for literary organizations intent on creating a writing and public engagement practice founded in tenets of peace and social justice. Dr. Khadijah Z. Ali-Coleman is the founding Chief Executive Officer of BWPSJ.

Conversations with Dr. Khadijah Z. Ali-Coleman


Traveling to Cuba in 2024 Year with Alice Walker

One of the amazing highlights of 2024 was Dr. Ali-Coleman meeting literary icon Alice Walker while participating in the Busboys & Poets Tribe Travel to Cuba for the unveiling of a statue of Langston Hughes to commemorate his birthday and his unique relationship with Cuban Poet Laureate Nicolas Guillien and the people of Cuba

Dr. Khadijah Z. Ali-Coleman with Dr. Alice Walker in Cuba (January 2024)


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THE SUMMONING OF BLACK JOY 

by Khadijah Z. Ali-Coleman

On Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, Liberated Muse Arts Group performed poems from this book at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in the presentation, "Voices of Freedom and Resistance," written and directed by Khadijah Z. Ali-Coleman. The show featured her original songs and poetry and songs and poetry by Bob Marley, Erykah Badu, Maya Angelou and Billie Holiday.


In this captivating poetry collection by Khadijah Z. Ali-Coleman, released during the Juneteenth 2023 weekend, the power of words becomes a force to reckon with. Through poignant verses written both before and during the COVID-19 global health pandemic, Ali-Coleman weaves a tapestry of emotions that delve into the ongoing struggle for the liberation of Black people in America.

The Prince George's Arts and Humanities Council awarded Khadijah Ali-Coleman an Artist Fellowship grant in 2024 to complete an audiovisual companion to the book, The Summoning of Black Joy. This poem from the book, "Planting, a Poem about Umoja," is part of that project. The full project will be shared publicly as performance art at the 2024 Furious Flower Poetry Center conference and then released on Spotify in 2025.


A Park Stands on All of Our Graves
Ali-Coleman, Khadijah Z

Theatre Reviews

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.

"The songs [in Running:AMOK] are slow-burning little gems: some smoky, some bluesy, some sparkly."- DC Theatre Scene

      

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HOMESCHOOLING BLACK CHILDREN IN THE US

 


In 2020,  Dr. Khadijah Ali-Coleman had just finished defending her doctoral dissertation on dual enrolled African American homeschooled students and their perceptions of preparedness for community college. The COVID-19 global pandemic and quarantine had just gone into effect. She was offered an opportunity to publish her dissertation into a book. She opted to edit an anthology of voices on Black homeschooling instead. During her own research study, she had seen the lack of Black voices in the research on Black homeschooling families. As a homeschooling mother and researcher, she wanted to expand the research literature and offer an opportunity for other homeschooling parents and researchers to share their experiences and research. And, that is what this book is. Released January 2022, it is on sale today.
Add it to your library today!

media work as a producer, host and director

Podcasts, Radio & Film Work

NOW PLAYING!


Welcome to blck creatives in liminal spaces, where the host, Dr. Khadijah Ali-Coleman, dives deep into the intersectional worlds crafted by Black visionaries. This podcast is a vibrant tapestry weaving together the arts, science, education, technology, and beyond.

Join us for enlightening conversations that uncover the innovative ideas and unique perspectives of Black creatives who are not just dreaming but actively reshaping our world. Ready to peek behind the curtain and explore the minds of those at the cutting edge of creativity?

Tune in and get inspired!

Presented by Black Writers for Peace and Social Justice 

Click to hear On Spotify

Khadijah Z. Ali-Coleman holds a Master of Arts degree in Mass Communications from Towson University and has produced multi-media content for over 20 years.

Some of her credits include:


PODCASTS
Contemporary Perspectives in Black Homeschooling (2020-Present) Host, Writer, Producer, Director
The Black Writer's Studio Podcast (2022-2024) Host, Writer, Producer, Director

VIRTUAL EVENTS
Black Writers Lighting the Way: Getting Word Virtual Kick-Off (2023) Writer, Producer, Director
Legacy Awards hosted by Karyn Parsons (2022) Producer, Writer, Director

RADIO SEGMENTS
The Creative Midwife on First Edition on 88.9 FM WEAA

SHORT FILMS
Allergic (2021)
The Positive Impact of Homeschooling Black Children (2020)
BUNT (2018)
BRACELET (2017)


 


Booking & Media Inquiries

Be Who You Are (Official Video) by Khadijah Moon


Using the stage name, Khadijah Moon, Khadijah Ali-Coleman has appeared on numerous stages showcasing her talents as a versatile singer with incredible depth and musical instinct. She has appeared on renowned stages such as the Apollo Theater in New York and The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts with her arts collective, Liberated Muse and as a solo artist.  As a spoken word artist, she was featured for two years as a poetry host at Busboys & Poets in Washington, DC and has edited three volumes of the Liberated Muse anthology series featuring writers and visual artists from around the world. As a poet, singer and playwright, she has served as the Creative Director of the arts collective Liberated Muse Arts Group which she founded in 2008.

In 2016, Khadijah compiled her music into a one-woman show called Song of a Space Cadet, presented by Artscape, the nation's second largest arts festival. The production featured music, poetry and monologues to share her memoir of how she rebounded from personal and national tragedy to create powerful art.
Soon after, she released a CD of the music from the show titled Song of a Space Cadet

 

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A Park Stands on All of Our Graves
Ali-Coleman, Khadijah Z