Tonesha Russell

She is black woman. She is wife. She is mother. Her Husband Samuel, her 2 boys Aaren and August, keep her hopeful, joyful + loving. 

She is writer. She is black girl knitter. She is lover of words + learning: a love that emerged after reading Mildred D. Taylor’s Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. At just 12 years old, it was a poignant introduction to the life she would come to know as a black person in America.

Through the silences of life, writing has given her a voice. The voice that was deemed to be lost in her childhood, is the same voice that victoriously carried her to a Master's Degree in English from Georgetown University .

Russell is a dynamic communicator, project manager, writer and educator who is passionate about bringing the voices of those on the margins to the center. Her work inside the classroom is focused on highlighting the work of people of color, bringing those experiences to bear in the outcomes she seeks to achieve.  Her work in communications for Non-Profit organizations, centers around telling the stories of those closest to the pain of inner city gun violence and mass incarceration.

Currently, Tonesha works as a freelance copyeditor for several design and public affairs firms. She spends nights working on her personal projects, including a memoir detailing her upbringing in the inner city of Oakland, CA. One that she hopes will allow the unspoken to finally, speak.