Playwright, Activist & Teacher
Norfolk, Virginia Area
- Current
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- Playwright at SB Ink
- Past
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- School Board Member at Portsmouth Public Schools
- Artist at City of Virginia Beach
- Founder & Executive Director at Juneteenth Festival Company
- Instructor at English & Theatre Programs
- Education
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- University of Pennsylvania
- University of Pennsylvania
- High School
- University of California, Los Angeles
- University of Pennsylvania
- Recommended
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3 people have recommended Sheri - Connections
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93
connections
- Industry
- Writing and Editing
- Websites
Sheri Bailey’s Summary
Playwright, Activist & Teacher - In the 4th grade I went on a class trip to Jamestown, VA. For this trip I got a new outfit that included a light blue trenchcoat. On the day of the trip I was loaded down with a lunch that consisted of fried chicken, fruit, cookies, juice and extra money! I spent the night before at my grandmother's house which was only two blocks from the school. My Aunt Essie walked me over at 6am and off I went to learn about America's beginning days. Of course, I was too young to know that we were told a bunch of lies and omissions about the truth of how the English arrived and changed the landscape of the "New World." Still, I learned something profound on that chilly spring day. At lunchtime I ended up beside a girl who was shivering a bit because her sweater was threadbare and for lunch she had a jelly sandwich and a pack of gum. And in that moment, I realized that it was not right that some people had too much while others had nothing or not enough. My life's work has been devoted to sharing the truth about who we are as a race of beings in the hope of creating balance between the haves and the have nots.
Sheri Bailey’s Specialties:
Committed to grassroots civic engagement and public education. Believe in mediation as a path to good communication and conflict resolution skills. Tolerant of diverse lifestyles, religious practices and unfamiliar-to-me cultural rituals. Will travel anywhere. And, of course, I write.
Sheri Bailey’s Experience
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Playwright
SB Ink
(Writing and Editing industry)
June 1969 — Present (40 years 6 months)
I use history that reaches across the oceans, back through the ages to connect the lessons of the past to today and tomorrow.
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School Board Member
Portsmouth Public Schools
(Education Management industry)
July 2004 — June 2008 (4 years )
During my four years on the 9 member P-town School Board I had the experience of being on the losing end of several 8 -1 votes, but I also came to understand how important it is to encourage ordinary citizens to participate in the democratic process. If that becomes the norm then we all win.
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Artist
City of Virginia Beach
(Writing and Editing industry)
1998 — 2008 (10 years )
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Founder & Executive Director
Juneteenth Festival Company
(Writing and Editing industry)
1997 — 2008 (11 years )
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Instructor
English & Theatre Programs
(Fine Art industry)
September 1992 — December 2007 (15 years 4 months)
Whether I am teaching playwriting at the Governor's School for the Arts or remedial composition at Tidewater Community College, in the classroom is where I feel the most effective. Everyone has one great story or passion. My job is to build each student's confidence about their particular story and to get it documented as words on a page. My ability to do this always earns me rave evaluations from the majority of my students and this is deeply rewarding to me.
Sheri Bailey’s Education
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University of Pennsylvania
M.L.A. , Guerrilla Theatre , 2005 — 2008
Hampton Roads has some of the nation's most important history. Starting with the 1619 arrival of the 1st Blacks in the New World to the Great Dismal Swamp being used as n Underground Railroad stop. In 2011 Fort Monroe which was known as the "Freedom Fortress" after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed will be handed over from the military into public stewardship.
- Activities and Societies:
- I founded the Juneteenth Festival Company to help my community, which was so vital in the formation and ultimate demise of legalized slavery, to look back at an often painful history without shame or blame.
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University of Pennsylvania
B.A. , English - Creative Writing , 1975 — 1979
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High School
Mass Communications 1971 — 1975
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University of California, Los Angeles
M.F.A. , Playwrighting
While at UCLA I wrote 4 plays in 2 years: All Kinds of Blue, Dannie'n Laurence, Southern Girls and finally, Murder & Mayhem at the Red River Bar.
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University of Pennsylvania
B.A. , English - Creative Writing
I was taught by some of the world's best and most famous writers at Penn. Phillip Roth, Carlos Fuentes and Kristin Hunter to name a few. Sonia Sanchez was teaching at Penn during my freshman and sophomore years, but she eventually found a better home crosstown at Temple. I wrote a novel entitled "Shadow Portraits" for my senior thesis that "almost" got published.
- Activities and Societies:
- Elected Ward Leader for Penn's West Philadelphia campus.
Additional Information
Sheri Bailey’s Websites:
Sheri Bailey’s Interests:
American History, community building, scrabble, traveling
Sheri Bailey’s Groups:
Dramatists Guild, League of Women Voters, NAACP, AAA, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority
Sheri Bailey’s Honors:
National Endowment for the Arts Theatre Fellowship
Huntington Library to house Sheri Bailey's body of work
3 NAACP Image Award Nominations for "Best Playwright"
Willard Rogers "Outstanding Screenplay" Award
Community Mediation Center's 2003 "Board Member of the Year"
Sheri Bailey’s Contact Settings
Interested In:
- career opportunities
- consulting offers
- new ventures
- job inquiries
- expertise requests
- business deals
- reference requests
- getting back in touch
