Synthia Saint James

Synthia Saint James (born February 11, 1949) is an American visual artist, author, keynote speaker, educator and actor in the 70s. She is best known for designing the original cover art of the hardcover edition of Terry McMillan's book Waiting to Exhale.^[1] Additionally, Saint James designed the first Kwanzaa stamp for the United States Postal Service, first issued in 1997 and the Kwanzaa Forever Stamp, issued in 2016.^[2][3]

Synthia Saint James
Born	(1949-02-11) February 11, 1949 (age 75) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Visual artist, author, educator and actor in the 70s.
Nationality	American

Saint James in her studio/gallery

Biography

Synthia Saint James was raised in Los Angeles, California and the Bronx, New York.^[4] She sold her first painting in New York City at the age of 20. She currently lives in Los Angeles.

Career

In 1976, Synthia Saint James appeared in the film Emma Mae (also known as Black Sister's Revenge). The film is set in Compton, CA and played the role of Ulika Stansell, cousin to the title-character Emma Mae. In 1977 she appeared as the spokesperson and counter girl in a national McDonald's TV commercial.

Saint James had her first solo art exhibition in 1977 at the Inner City Cultural Center in Los Angeles, California, where she studied performing arts. In 1980, she participated in her first international exhibition in Paris, France.^[5]

She received an honorary doctorate (Doctor of Humane Letters) from Saint Augustine's University, Raleigh, North Carolina, on May 8, 2010.

Bibliography

Children's books

• Gershator/Saint James (1994). Tukama Tootles the Flute: A Tale From The Antilles Tukama Tootles the Flute: A Tale From The Antilles. Scholastic. ISBN 9780531086612.
• Chapman/Saint James (1994). Snow on Snow on Snow. Penguin. ISBN 9780803714571.
• Saint James, Synthia (1994). The Gifts of Kwanzaa. Whitman, Albert & Company. ISBN 9780807529072.
• Saint James, Synthia (1996). Sunday. Whitman, Albert & Company. ISBN 9780807576588.
• Myers/Saint James (1997). How Mr. Monkey Saw the Whole World. Random House. ISBN 9780440414155.
• Gershator/Saint James (2000). Greetings, Sun. DK/Penguin. ISBN 9780789426604.
• Barnwell/Saint James (2005). No Mirrors in My Nana's House. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 9780152052430.
• Williams/Saint James (1999). Girls Together. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 9780152309824.
• Hull/Saint James (1999). Happy Happy Kwanzaa. Brassheart Music; Pap/Cas edition. ISBN 978-0967376226.
• Nikola-Lisa/Saint James (2000). Hallelujah: A Christmas Celebration. Atheneum/Simon & Schuster; 1st edition. ISBN 978-0689816734.
• Mollel/Saint James (2000). To Dinner, for Dinner. Holiday House. ISBN 9780823415274.
• Hull/Saint James (2000). Alphabet Affirmations: Positive Affirmations for Children. Kids Creative Classics; Book and Cassette edition. ISBN 978-0967376233.
• Saint James, Synthia (2001). It's Kwanzaa Time It's Kwanzaa Time. Little Simon/Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9780689841637.
• Hull/Saint James (2002). Peace in Our Land. Kids Creative Classics. ISBN 978-0972147804.
• Hull/Saint James (2004). Dream A World: A Child's Journey To Self-Discovery. BrassHeart Music. ISBN 978-0972147835.
• Saint James, Synthia (2004). A story in The Milestones Project. Tricycle Press.
• English/Saint James (2003). Neeny Coming, Neeny Going. Troll Communications. ISBN 9780816737970.
• Sneve/Saint James (2003). Enduring Wisdom: Sayings from Native Americans. Holiday House. ISBN 978-0823414550.

Adult literature

• Johnson/Saint James (1996). Mother's Love. White Plains, NY: Peter Pauper Press.
• Saint James, Synthia (1996). Girlfriends. Peter Pauper Press. ISBN 978-0880882293.
• Saint James, Synthia (1997). Can I Touch You?: Love Poems and Affirmations. Beckham Publications. ISBN 978-1890207007.
• Saint James, Synthia (1998). Creative Fixings from the Kitchen: Favorite Multicultural Recipes. Persnickety Pr. ISBN 978-0965025843.
• Saint James, Synthia (2000). Who's Who among African Americans, 13th Edition, Forward. Gale/Thomson.
• Smiley, Tavis (2002). Essay in How to Make Black America Better: Leading African Americans Speak Out. Knopf/Random House. ISBN 9780385720878.
• Saint James, Synthia (2004). Synthia Saint James: a Book of Postcards. Pomegranate. ISBN 978-0764929472.
• Saint James, Synthia (2011). Living My Dream: an Artistic Approach to Marketing. ISBN 9781466409897.
• Saint James, Synthia (2011). The I Wills According to SAINT JAMES: Book One. Atelier SAINT JAMES. ISBN 978-0615584683.
• Saint James, Synthia (2011). Can I Touch You: a Collection of Love Poetry. Atelier SAINT JAMES. ISBN 978-0615579313.
• Saint James, Synthia (2015). In and Out of Love: Selected Poetry from the 1970s. Atelier SAINT JAMES. ISBN 978-0692608029.
• Saint James, Synthia (2016). Creative Fixings from the Kitchen: Multicultural Delights. Atelier SAINT JAMES. ISBN 978-0692359839.
• Saint James, Synthia (2016). Honey Suckle Kisses. Atelier SAINT JAMES. ISBN 978-0692712320.
• Saint James, Synthia (2016). I AM EDMONIA LEWIS and I AM WILDFIRE (A Monologue). Atelier SAINT JAMES. ISBN 978-1539035848.
• Saint James, Synthia (2016). Honey Suckle Kisses: Love's Refreshment. Atelier SAINT JAMES. ISBN 978-1539014171.

Awards

	Year	Award	Organisation
	2015	2015 Villager Award	Afram Global Organization Inc, The Village P.r.o.j.e.c.t.s.
	2011	California Black Women's Health Project^[6]
	2010	Trumpet Awards-The Arts ^[7]	Trumpet Awards
		Honorary Doctorate( Doctor of Humane Letters)	Saint Augustine's College
		Hall of Fame ^[8]	National Association of Women Business Owners, Los Angeles Chapter
		"Phenomenal Women"	California State University, Northridge
	2008	"Woman of the Year"	26th Senatorial District of California
	2007	“A Tribute to Synthia SAINT JAMES”	The Home Depot Center Charitable Foundation & AEG Worldwide
	2006	“MOSTE Inspirational Woman”	MOSTE Foundation
		“The Samella Award”	Center for the Arts of the African Diaspora
	2004	“Woman of the Year” (Education)	Los Angeles County Commission for Women
		“The History Makers Award”
	2002	“Ebony Excellence: Women of Vision”	Mu Beta Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.
		“Sisters Award”	National Alumnae Association of Spelman College
	2001	“Greensboro, NC Key to the City”	African American Atelier Gallery
		“The Arts Council Award”	California Afro-American Museum
		“Oppenheim Gold Award” - for the book To Dinner, For Dinner
	2000	“Literary & Visual Arts Award”	115th Anniversary Second Baptist Church
		“Talent Award”	Los Angeles Chapter of The Links, Inc.
	1999	“NAPPA Gold Award”	NAPPA
	1998	“Women of Vision Award”	Black Women Lawyers
	1997	Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award - for the book Neeny Coming Neeny Going
		“UNICEF Greeting Card Award”	UNICEF
		“AT&T Entrepreneur of the Year”	Black Women of Achievement & NAACP Legal Defense Fund
		“Treasure of Los Angeles”
		“YWCA Silver Achievement Award”	YWCA
	1996	“Parents Choice Silver Honor” - for the book Sunday

43rd NAACP Image Awards (2012)

"Living My Dream: An Artistic Approach to Marketing": Outstanding Literary Work-Instructional category.^[9]

References

1. McMillan, Terry (1992). Waiting to Exhale. Viking/Penguin. ISBN 9780670839803.
2. "Kwanzaa: Celebrating Umoja (Unity)". Retrieved May 12, 2012.
3. Wardlaw, Valerie (2016-11-30). "Artist Synthia Saint James And The U.S. Postal Service Release New Kwanzaa Stamp". The Huffington Post.
4. George, Lynell (December 16, 1996). "Painting the Town". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
5. "www.createspace.com". Retrieved May 12, 2012.
6. "Women Who Dared Awards". Retrieved May 12, 2012.
7. "Trumpet Awards". 9 December 2011. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
8. "Hall of Fame National Association of Women Business Owners, Los Angeles Chapter". Retrieved May 12, 2012.
9. "NAACP Image Awards 2012: Full list of winners". ABC7 Los Angeles. Retrieved 2018-08-16.

External links

• Synthia SAINT JAMES Official Web site
• M.K. Asante, The Black Candle