This week Tasha speaks with Priscilla Hancock Cooper
Ms. Cooper is Vice President of Institutional Programs at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (BCRI). After serving as consultant and copywriter for the permanent exhibition from 1990-92, she returned to BCRI in 2000 to lead its innovative after-school program which received a 2006 award from the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. She also directed the Institute’s Leadership Initiative for African American Museums, a national training program for museum professionals.
A writer and performer, Ms. Cooper taught creative writing for twelve years to incarcerated girls as part of the “Writing Our Stories” Program, sponsored by Alabama Department of Youth Services and the Alabama Writers’ Forum. She has received two individual artist fellowships from the Alabama State Council on the Arts. The 1994 fellowship supported the stage adaptation of her collection of poetry, “Call Me Black Woman” which toured to colleges across the country. The 2006 fellowship supported developed of her play, “Back to the Dream” that was produced by Red Mountain Theatre Company in 2007 to capacity audiences, sparking a dynamic community dialogue.
Ms. Cooper has received numerous community awards for her work with youth, arts and culture in Birmingham including the Girl Scouts of Central Alabama, Stillman College Alumni Association, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Birmingham Chapter of the NAACP, Birmingham Magazine “Women Who Make a Difference” and many others.
A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Ms. Cooper served on the faculty of the University of Louisville (KY) and the University of Montevallo (AL). She is the proud mother of three and grandmother of six.
