Shawn Rawls

I didn’t plan on getting sober. If anything, I thought I was still in control. I had a very specific image of what an alcoholic looked like—and I didn’t fit it. I was working. I was teaching. I was in grad school. I was building a life. So in my mind, I was fine. I wasn’t. Alcohol had been in my life longer than I wanted to admit. My father was an alcoholic. Growing up, I watched how alcohol shaped his relationships, his behavior, his life. I told myself I would never be like that. My first...

I am writing this publicly to challenge outreach arts programs, including mine, to rethink cultural engagement and the narratives and...

Advice vs. Permission I decided to write on this topic after a friend told me "I should" conduct my business in a certain way. For weeks,...