Author’s Spotlight Dr. Tamecca Rogers Interviewed by Jennifer Diaby
Please introduce and tell the readers a little about yourself. Hello. I am Dr. Tamecca Rogers and I hold a Bachelor's degree in Psychology, a Master's in Business Administration, and a Doctoral degree in Educational Leadership. I love education. I have served five years as a Hospital Corpsman in the United States Navy and a combined six years as a High School instructor and College Enrollment Counselor. I have also held Adjunct Professor positions at multiple postsecondary institutions. I have worked at Tulsa Technology Center since 2010 and I am currently, the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. I am most proud of being a mom to Ian, Chazen, and Keith, and we live in Tulsa, Oklahoma. They keep me on my toes. We enjoy road trips, beach vacations, and camping in a RV. We tried the tent thing before, but we prefer RVs and cabins. Dr. Tamecca Rogers, you have written several educational children’s books. What inspired you to become an Author and write books that will impact children in a positive way? As a child, I would always write in diaries and journals. It just made me feel good. As, I became an adult, I stopped writing for fun. I became busy with work, school, and taking care of my children. As the world was turned upside down with the pandemic, my everyday life changed. I started journaling again as a stress reliever mechanism. I worked from home and my youngest son had to go to school from home. So, we were literally together 24/7. I had to realize, my son was going through his emotional struggles, as well. He is a social person. He loves his friends and his teachers. I encouraged him to write or draw about his feelings and we discussed it whenever he was ready to talk about it. While at home, I felt as if we went through so much trauma. As a Black mom of three sons, I have already had “the talk” with my boys. However, with my youngest son, I just touched the surface of the hurtful topic. As mothers, we try to protect their innocence for as long as we can, but unfortunately, with the world we live in, we are forced to have that talk, sooner, rather than later. During our time at home together, I had to talk to him about Ahmaud Arbery getting gunned down while jogging unarmed in a neighborhood and not less than a week later, I had to talk to him about George Floyd, while we watch as he was murdered, laying on the ground, begging police for his life, struggling to breathe, handcuffed, with a knee on his neck, blocking his carotid artery. George used his last breaths to call out for his momma. These situations that continues to happen is exhausting to say the least. And as a parent, I was struggling with having these conversations with my 9-year-old.To make a long story short, I felt if I was struggling with these sorts of conversations and topics, other parents and caregivers could be struggling with the same thing. Therefore, environmental situations, raw feelings, and parenting inspired me to write books, articles, and blogs that would help both children and adults. The books are thought provoking, uplifting, and encourage conversations about racism. Please tell us about your book titled, “A Promise Deferred: The Massacre of Black Wall Street written by you and your co-author Keith Ross?” A Promise Deferred: The Massacre of Black Wall Street, is about a boy (Keith) and his grandma having story time together. During this story time, grandma realizes that her grandson has never heard the story of Black Wall Street. She realized that he never heard of the vibrant Black business district ran and owned by Black entrepreneurs that once existed in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He’s never heard that it sustained over 600 businesses, churches, schools, libraries, theaters, clothing stores, restaurants, and a hospital. It had ice cream and candy stores too. He has also never heard that the first bombs that ever fell on American soil were on Black Wall Street. And he has never heard of the terrible events of May 1921 that razed it all to the ground. Keith’s grandma explains to him about what happened to the thriving Black community that once was in his own home town. The book also has curriculum that consist of a word search, matching vocabulary exercise, reading comprehension, critical thinking exercise, economic development activity, how to be an entrepreneur worksheet, a coloring exercise, and a glossary of terms.
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