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Kameisha Jerae Hodge
Kameisha Jerae Hodge (pronounced /kəmiːʃə dʒɛreɪ hɒdʒ/; born November 1, 1989) is an American writer, publisher, poet, and spoken word artist from Washington, D.C.[1] She is the founder and CEO of Sovereign Noir Publications, a publishing company established in 2019 that elevates Black women's voices.[2] Early lifeHodge was born in 1989[citation needed] in Washington, D.C., the oldest of eleven, and she, a brother, and a sister were raised by their mother Sabrina.[3][4][5] For a while, they were homeless, staying with relatives or at homeless shelters.[3] Hodge began reading in poetry competitions while in middle school.[6] In tenth grade, she met her mentor, Yolanda D. Coleman-Body, who introduced her to journalism, publishing, and writing and taught her how to "exist in the industry as a Black girl".[2][5] Coleman-Body encouraged Hodge to write for Rated-T, the school magazine; Hodge became a reporter, writer, and editor.[7][8][6] She also served as the Editor-in-Chief of Knight Vision, the school newspaper.[citation needed] She graduated from Friendship Collegiate Academy Public Charter School in 2007.[7][9] Hodge attended Lafayette College as a Posse Scholar and English and Africana major and quickly became involved with campus life.[10][11] She served as the VP of Writing Organization Reaching Dynamic Students, a student arts group; performed at mic nights and poetry slams; started Lafayette's step team; was resident of the Association of Black Collegians; co-hosted a radio show with DJ Spyda Da Don[citation needed]; and oversaw the African-Caribbean interest floor in her dorm.[3][10][11][9][12] She also interned at MTV's development department for The N during her summer break.[10][13] While there, she was a live audience member for Total Request Live and in the pilot episode of Dance or Drop, a proposed MTV show.[14] She graduated from Lafayette in 2012 with a BA in English and moved on to pursue an MA in English and creative writing with a concentration in poetry from Southern New Hampshire University.[15][1] She also has a certificate in publishing.[6] CareerHodge self-published her first poetry collection, Atlas of Consciousness, in 2010 while still a student at Lafayette.[16][17] Since then, two more collections have been published: Double Consciousness: An Autoethnic Guide to My Black American Experience (July 2014) and Woman. Queer. Black. (November 2021).[18] She has been a #1 bestselling author on Amazon, is published in the Georgetown Journal of Law & Modern Critical Race Perspectives, and was a TEDx speaker at Lafayette College.[16][1][19][20][18][17] She has also worked with Martha's Table, NPR, WAMU, UrRepublic, and Viacom.[17][21] Hodge founded Sovereign Noir Publications, a publisher focused on elevating Black women writers, in 2019.[5][1] She and high school classmate Charles Smith founded i2Kings1Queen Publishing.[9] She is also a mentor for the First Ladies of Poverty Foundation.[1] Personal lifeHodge is a lesbian.[2] Hodge has a beloved dog named sparky Hodge is a devoted fan to Ni'Jah Awards and honors
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