QueenEarth is a storyteller, singer/songwriter, and creative consultant. Her coursework and portfolio includes writing and composition, curriculum and instruction, and arts integration. She also shares her gifts as a performer, educator, speaker, visual artist, and event producer. To answer calls for justice, she consults and voliunteers with Arts and Culture organizations and spiritual communities. From storytelling, racial justice, equity, and models for reparations, her work builds and identifies culture. She seeks more opportunities for improving courses and programs for online and on-the-ground instruction and making blueprints and spaces to reflect actionable change.
Her passions lead her to faith-based communities, inclusive gatherings, outdoor education, and urban gardening. She is thankful for the work she does photographing marches and learning in her coursework how to shepherd across the village. She has been helping to grow Woodberry Crossing, a place where children and families learn through the wonder of nature, from tending animals and planting gardens to exploring how our daily choices care for the Chesapeake Bay. Woodberry is a living classroom for faith in action: a place where creation care, community, and joy come together. She hopes to find a role leading towards food justice and intergenerational fellowship while reconnecting with the land, the Earth, and our neighbors of all ages!
QueenEarth has released several albums of original music, solo projects, and collaborations. In 2018 she released a project, Universe, with The QueenEarth Band (TQB), and a solo EP called Melissa. The QueenEarth band is comprised of They combine soulful lyrics, country, hip-hop, and pop influences, to create urban acoustic sounds. She evolved from an acoustic singer-songwriter, to producing and playing bass, keys, guitar, and ushering in studio collaborations.
In the pandemic, she released several solo instrumental projects on Bandcamp to make space for other artists in quarantine. The music was featured twice in the Baltimore Magazine last Spring. In Spring for The Big Baltimore Playlist: April 2020 and again in June amongst a host of stellar artists, Black Musicians Write the Soundtrack of the City. Many of the instrumentals were accompanied by visual stories for wfh/lofi lovers.
In Web3/ digital art (https://objkt.com/@queenearth)
QueenEarth is most proud of her text to image/generative and illustrative/collage art that tell stories about Black American history. She relates to the movement of the African Diaspora, via the Middle Passage and Reconstruction through Jim Crow and early 20th century American history. With a gift for creating communities, she created and facilitated onboarding for new and emerging digital artists, many Black, LGBTQ+, and international digital and traditional artists.
QueenEarth began her speaking career with her educational concert, QueerCore: Behind the Music, to share songwriting stories for LGBTQ audiences and allies in higher education. Queer Core evolved from music and story sharing to an educational program that advocates for self expression and awareness. In 2020, QueenEarth began using unique blend of skills and experience to help lead and consult with education, arts, and spiritual communities.
D. Min, Missional Leadership - Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (in progress)
MA, Modern Studies — Loyola University Maryland
MA Certificate, Instructional Systems Development — University of Maryland, Baltimore County
BA, Psychology — Indiana University of Pennsylvania
History/ Pan-African Studies
Eco Preacher Cohort - Lexington Theological Seminary, Creation Justice Ministries, Bangot Theological Seminary (in progress)
Culturally Responsive Teaching — Baltimore City Community College
Pedagogy of Online Teaching — Community College of Baltimore County