Janis Faye Kearney

Janis Faye Kearney grew up surrounded by dirt roads, bayous and cotton fields. The author and publisher wears her southern-ness on her sleeve and writes about hers and other southerners’ miraculous and banal lives through short stories, memoir, autobiography, biography and fiction.From the cotton fields of southeast Arkansas, Janis’s path took her many places, including her role as publisher of the Arkansas State Press newspaper founded by civil rights legends Daisy Gatson Bates and L.C. Bates, and as Personal Diarist to America’s 42nd President William J.Clinton. A more recent role is founder and president of the Celebrate! Maya Project, a nonprofit she and a handful of women created after the death of the iconic Maya Angelou in 2014. In 1989, Janis was recognized by the Arkansas Democratic Black Caucus for her leadership in Journalism. In 2016 she was inducted into the Arkansas Writers Hall of Fame, and that same year, received the University of Arkansas Lemke Journalism Award. Janis’ most recent book is Only on Sundays: Mahalia Jackson’s Long Journey, a creative nonfiction chronicling the New Orleans native who became America’s first ever Queen of Gospel.

Participation on Humanity Rising

Day 667 Mon 4/3/23 Women’s History of Changing the World I: Bearing Witness to America’s Civil Rights History: A Personal Journey

Day 668 Tue 4/4/23 Women’s History of Changing the World II: Spiritual Mentorship: Coretta Scott King, Daisy Bates and Maya Angelou

Day 669 Wed 4/5/23 Women’s History of Changing the World III: Poetry in Motion