Terry a. O'Neal

Terry a. O'Neal (born June 15, 1973)^[1] is an American writer. O'Neal was named one of the century's great Black women writers in a book entitled Literary Divas: The Top 100+ Most Admired African-American Women Writers in Literature (2006).^[2]

Author Terry a O'Neal in 2013

Biography

O'Neal (Terry Anne Williams) ^[3] was born and raised on the south side of Stockton, California, where she was exposed to arts, literature, and culture by her mother, Barbara Ann Tillman-Williams. As a child, she met Maya Angelou at the art gallery where her mother worked, an experience that she later said inspired her pursuit of writing.^[4]

In 1991, she graduated from Franklin High School in Stockton.^[5] The summer following her graduation, O'Neal married at 18-years-old, and went on to attended California State University, Sacramento^[4] in the fall of 1991.

By 1997, O'Neal gave birth to three children: Michael Jr., Cameron Henry, and Jorden Elizabeth.

Poetry had always been her first love in literature, largely inspired by her mother and her best-loved poets of the Harlem Renaissance: Langston Hughes, Carolyn M. Rodgers, and Gwendolyn Brooks, to name a few. While raising a family, attending grad school, building her own business, and working a full-time job, O'Neal decided to journey down her own path to writing; and in 2000, she released her first book of poetry, Motion Sickness.^[4][6]

Shortly after her first book, O'Neal released her second collection of poetry The Poet Speaks In Black (2001)^[7] and the children's picture book Ev'ry Little Soul (2002).

One year later, she published Sweet Lavender (2003), a coming-of-age story of a young girl forced to grow up too fast after her father walked out of her life at a young age. The novel, that was inspired by the works of Langston Hughes^[8] and her passion for father-daughter stories,^[9] was later adapted into a feature screenplay.

In 2005, O'Neal founded Lend Your Hand, Educating the World's Children, a non-profit organization geared towards providing resources and schools supplies needed to help students achieve academic success.^[10] Through the non-profit, she developed and implemented The Black History Bee, a program designed to teach youth Black history through a trivia competition.^[11]

Apart from her own writings, O'Neal has toured secondary schools across the country to encourage young people to carry out their dream, no matter how unlikely it may seem. It was her fervent desire to uplift today's youth that paved the way to her becoming the editor and publisher of the collection entitled Make Some Noise! A Youth Poetry Anthology,^[5] a collection that featured poetry by youth ages 12 to 18 years of age.

The latest volume Make Some Noise IV! A Baton Rouge Youth Poetry Anthology (2017) was dedicated to Louisiana youth. Through poetry, prose and short stories, they shared intimate thoughts and feelings about surviving the historic Louisiana great flood and tragic police shootings of 2016. Nearly 100 Baton Rouge teens were published in this volume.^[12]

O'Neal's contribution to uplifting youth through writing and poetry, which has largely been overlooked, has empowered youth across the United States and abroad. Her efforts have been successful in providing a safe platform for adolescence to speak out and share their voice.^[13]

In 2013, her independent film, based on the novel Sweet Lavender, went into pre-production under the title Along the Dirt Road.^[14] But the writer and producer took a hard hit following her divorce, and production was halted in the summer of 2014.

After freeing a tumultuous marriage, O'Neal released a cathartic book of poetry entitled: The Sparrow's Plight: Woes of a 21st Century Black Poet (2014). In the book, the author speaks of her run-ins with life being a Black, liberated woman in a White America, racial injustice, and the tragedies unfolding around the world. In the foreword by author and literary critic, Rudolph Lewis, he pointed out: "Neither Gil Scott-Heron nor Richard Wright could have written as poetically with such depth and beauty as Terry a O’Neal does with regard to two recent issues, namely, the tragedies of Fukishima and African child soldiers."^[15]

Works

• Motion Sickness (2000) ISBN 9780967944609
• The Poet Speaks in Black (2001) ISBN 9780967944647
• Ev'ry Little Soul (2002) ISBN 9780967944661
• Sweet Lavender (2003) ISBN 9780967944678
• Good Mornin' Glory (2006) ISBN 9780976849223
• The Sparrow's Plight: Woes of a 21st Century Black Poet (2014) ISBN 9780976849247

References

1. According to the Library of Congress Authorities File, her birth is 1973, though source seems to be The Stockton Record
2. Cardine, Sara (August 24, 2006), “Positive Influence” 2020-10-14 at the Wayback Machine, The Stockton Record.
3. African American Literature Book Club 2017-07-09 at the Wayback Machine (2001). Biography Author Terry O’Neal
4. Creamer, Anita (2006-08-18). "Maya Angelou inspired her, so she seeks to touch others". The Sacramento Bee. pp. J1. from the original on 2020-10-14. Retrieved 2020-10-12.
5. Gilbert, Lori (2019-03-16). "Gilbert: Poet, screenwriter is struggling to heal from her loss, but she's determined to make mom proud". recordnet.com. from the original on 2020-10-12. Retrieved 2020-10-12.
6. Johnson-Gorman, Marinda (Producer and Director). (2014). KVIE Arts Showcase Terry A O’Neal, [Television series episode: season 3, episode 6] PBS.
7. "Local authors". The Sacramento Bee. 2002-03-07. p. 47. from the original on 2020-10-14. Retrieved 2020-10-12.
8. O’Neal Terry (August 22, 2013), “Author scouts Lake Charles for film adaptation” 2019-07-13 at the Wayback Machine
9. American Press 2020-10-10 at the Wayback Machine.
10. Gilbert, Lori (February 1, 2009). “Black History Bee to visit Stagg High 2020-10-14 at the Wayback Machine” The Stockton Record.
11. The Record (February 5, 2009). “Stockton author to be part of Black History Bee 2020-10-14 at the Wayback Machine”. The Stockton Record Newspaper
12. WAFB News. (February 2017) 75 Zachary High School Students Are Now Published Authors 2017-02-05 at the Wayback Machine. News Story
13. Gill, Stacy (October 19, 2016). "Author, poet Terry A. O'Neal visits Zachary High students during Teen Read Week". The Advocate.
14. Staff Reports (January 1, 2014), “Local film holding auditions 2020-10-14 at the Wayback Machine”, Beauregard Daily News.
15. From The Sparrow’s Plight: Woes of a 21st Century Black Poet. Copyright © 2014 by Motion Publishing.