Joanne M. Braxton
Born25 May 1950 (1950-05-25) (age 73)
NationalityAmerican
Alma materSarah Lawrence College
Occupation(s)Author, teacher and literary critic
TitleDr

Joanne Margaret Braxton (born May 25, 1950) is an American author, teacher, and literary critic, an ordained minister, and CEO and President of the Board of the Braxton Institute. She has written about topics including Maya Angelou and the book Black Women Writing Autobiography. Braxton has also edited works such as Wild Women in the Whirlwind: Afra-American Culture and the Contemporary Literary Renaissance and a collection of Paul Laurence Dunbar's poetry. She is an emeritus Frances L. and Edwin L. Cummings Professor of the Humanities at the College of William & Mary.

Biography

Joanne Margaret Braxton was born on May 25, 1950, in Lakeland, Maryland, to Harry McHenry Braxton and Mary Ellen Weems Braxton. She is the second born and has 3 brothers; James, Harry Jr. and Douglas, respectively.[1] She attended the Northwestern Senior High School in Hyattsville, Maryland.[1] She has a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Yale University,[2] and an M.Div. from the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology of Virginia Union University.[3] Braxton is also known as "Jodi".[4]

She has published some of her own poetry, including the 1977 collection Sometimes I Think of Maryland, which was praised by Gwendolyn Brooks.[1] As a literary critic, Braxton has written about topics including Maya Angelou[5] and the books Black Women Writing Autobiography.[6][7] She based Black Women Writing Autobiography on her dissertation. Braxton has also edited works such as Wild Women in the Whirlwind: Afra-American Culture and the Contemporary Literary Renaissance and a collection of Paul Laurence Dunbar's poetry.[4][8] She has taught at universities including Yale and the University of Michigan[1] and is currently an emeritus Frances L. and Edwin L. Cummings Professor of the Humanities at the College of William & Mary, where she directs the Middle Passage Project.[2][9] Braxton is also CEO and President of the Board of the Braxton Institute for Human Sustainability Resiliency and Joy.[3]

Braxton has won an Outstanding Educator Award from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia[10] and several lifetime achievement awards, including an Oni Award in 2002 from the International Black Women's Congress "for uncompromising commitment to uplifting the lives of African people."[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Joanne M Braxton". Oxford Reference. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  2. ^ a b "Joanne Braxton". William & Mary. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Who We Are". Braxton Institute. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  4. ^ a b Braxton, Joanne (Aka Jodi) (Margaret) 5/25/1950- (2018). In S. D. Hatch (Ed.), Encyclopedia of African-American writing: five centuries of contribution: trials & triumphs of writers, poets, publications and organizations (3rd ed.). Grey House Publishing
  5. ^ Rummell, Kathryn (2000). "Review of Maya Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"". Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature. 54 (1): 124–126. doi:10.2307/1348431. ISSN 0361-1299. JSTOR 1348431. S2CID 202639411.
  6. ^ King, Wilma (1991). "Review of Black Women Writing Autobiography: A Tradition Within a Tradition". The Journal of Southern History. 57 (3): 523–524. doi:10.2307/2209967. ISSN 0022-4642. JSTOR 2209967.
  7. ^ Sadoff, Dianne F. (1991). "Gender and African-American Narrative". American Quarterly. 43 (1): 119–127. doi:10.2307/2712971. ISSN 0003-0678. JSTOR 2712971.
  8. ^ Wilson, Melba (1991-03-01). "Wild Women in the Whirlwind: Afra-American Culture and the Contemporary Literary Renaissance". Feminist Review. 37 (1): 110–112. doi:10.1057/fr.1991.12. ISSN 0141-7789.
  9. ^ "Biography of Joanne M. Braxton, Ph.D." William & Mary. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
  10. ^ "1992". www.schev.edu. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
  11. ^ "Biography of Joanne M. Braxton, Ph.D." William & Mary. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
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