Shepherds and Wolves Literary Project puts children first in Baltimore
Shepherds and Wolves Literary Project is a non-profit project created by Samuel Harris which aims to promote literacy, language and literary arts to underprivileged communities in the Baltimore metropolitan area.
“We believe that a sincere commitment to bring these tools to the poor and underprivileged children in Baltimore’s inner city would have lasting social and economic benefits,” Harris told Baltimore Post-Examiner. “The Shepherds and Wolves Literary Project believes that there are no greater resources than our children. We believe that through the power of understanding words and the skill of how to use them is the responsibility of all teachers, educators and parents – it is the responsibility of us all to promote the value of ‘informed discretion’ just as Jefferson penned.”
“The purpose of Shepherds and Wolves Project is to ensure that every child has the right to literacy, and the right to make decisions in life based on this informed discretion, and in this vain we are all educators – we are all Shepherds.”
Harris is passionate about his project, saying: “The Shepherds and Wolves Literary Project was created to cultivate and encourage literacy, language and the love of learning in the field of literary arts in minority and underprivileged communities. My mission is to establish a venue for workshops and learning in the Baltimore metropolitan area.
“My main focus of this organization is aimed at the poor urban communities where resources such as encouragement in literacy, language and education in the literary arts are severely lacking,” he said. “I have solicited interest from many in the professional field of teaching, education and publishing and am in the process of attempting to secure grants from the Maryland Arts Council and other interested individuals.”
Harris conceived the idea of the project after searching through various writing associations and literary venues where he was able to see firsthand the lack of representation of publishing houses and organizations that target the real tenor of African American culture and expression .
“This included a lack of not only our styles but the stories and focus of black affairs which affect all people of color and their historical significance to American culture as a whole,” he said. “So I contacted officials at the New Jersey Historical Society and Rutgers University and initially tried to solicit interest in my award winning novel excerpt from: ‘Shepherds of The Passaic’. After getting positive feedback on the concept of my book and its possible historical contribution to the city of Newark, I succeeded in securing written acknowledgement from Mr. William Penniston of the prestigious Newark Museum. I have drawn much interest in my ideas and subsequently used my novel as a platform for publishing, promoting new writers and my vision of a literate America.”
The Shepherds and Wolves Literary Project was created for as a branch for children in underprivileged areas everywhere. As a small not for profit Harris will be focusing on themes and the rich style of the ‘black experience’ in America to promote quality literature and curatorship in urban communities.
For more information, contact Samuel Harris.
Claire Bolden McGill is a British expat who lived in Maryland for three years and moved back to the UK in August 2015. Claire wrote about her life as a British expat on the East Coast and now works in travel and hospitality PR in the UK. She still finds time to blog about her repatriation and the reverse culture shock that ensued – and she still hasn’t finished that novel, but she’s working on it. You can contact Claire via twitter on @clairebmcgill or via her blog From America to England.