​​Poetry, truth-telling, and Black ancestral memory and movement as pathways to courageous conversation

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Dr. Diedra Price

​Poet • Cultural Producer • Publisher

 

Dr. Diedra Price is a poet and cultural producer whose work explores the richness, depth, and complexity of culture, identity, and liberation and resistance through poetry, publishing, and public dialogue.

 

Through the Sugar Uncoated™ Method—grounded in truth-telling and a deep respect for Black ancestral memory and movement—Dr. Price leads powerful, nuanced conversations about racism, liberation and resistance, cultural identity, equity and justice, family and community, and love and intimacy.

 

Her Poet Talk & Engagement experiences center poetry as a form of intellectual inquiry and cultural production. These sessions create space for audiences to confront untruths, excavate cultural memory, and engage in deep reflection about race, equity, and humanity.

 

Dr. Price speaks to adult audiences in universities, museums, libraries, cultural centers, conferences, and community institutions.

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SIGNATURE POET TALK THEMES

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​Sugar Uncoated: Poetry, Truth-Telling & Liberation and Resistance

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Based on her inaugural poem Sugar Uncoated: A to Z, this signature talk examines ancestral courage, the truth-telling tradition within Black Ancestral memory and movement, and the myths that shape American memory.

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Using poetry as a cultural lens, Dr. Price guides audiences through conversations on liberation, resistance, and the unspoken truths that echo across generations—challenging dominant narratives and reclaiming historical clarity.

 

This talk is often paired with Dr. Greg Carr’s insight:

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“We did not come from slavery to freedom; we came from freedom to captivity.”

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Her Sugar Is Too Sweet for Her Lover​

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This poetry-based engagement reflects on attraction, intimacy, and the quiet moment of recognition when clarity replaces illusion. Through measured verse and dialogue, the poem explores how desire can coexist with imbalance—and how voice emerges not through blame or rupture, but through self-awareness and resolve.

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The work honors growth without bitterness and accountability without condemnation. Love is approached as discernment and dignity, where choosing oneself does not require erasure of the other. The conversation invites audiences to reflect on intimacy as a practice of respect, agency, and care—where boundaries are named with grace and self-knowledge becomes the turning point.

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​​​Pretty By Nature: Beauty & Individuality

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A poetry-centered engagement that considers beauty as inherent and expressive of individuality. Through selected verses, Dr. Price reflects on embodiment, presence, and the agency that comes from self-recognition.

 

The talk traces how beauty has been shaped and constrained over time, while affirming joy, autonomy, and resilience as enduring and self-possessed. Pretty by Nature offers poetry as a language of affirmation—naming beauty as original, embodied, and whole.

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You See What I See: Dignity, Humanity & Power

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A poetry-centered engagement examining how humanity is diminished or erased through American laws, systems, and policing practices designed to obscure responsibility and maintain control. Through selected verses, Dr. Price reflects on disappearance as a function of power—structured, sustained, and normalized.

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The talk affirms whole worlds—rich with meaning, imagination, and belonging—and positions poetry as a language of witness and truth, naming humanity without appeal or justification.

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​Dr. Price invites audiences to confront harmful narratives, reclaim truth, and consider how art can illuminate humanity in the face of enduring injustice.

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SPEAKING TOPICS

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Dr. Price’s Poet Talks explore themes including:​

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• Black ancestral memory and movement

• racism, white supremacy, and the construction of untruth

• liberation, resistance, and endurance

• identity, representation, and cultural invisibility and disappearing

• beauty and individuality

• poetry, art and literature as cultural production

• community and family and love and intimacy

• global Blackness and layered histories

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IDEAL AUDIENCES

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Dr. Price speaks to adult audiences in:

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• universities and colleges

• Black Studies, Ethnic Studies, Women’s Studies, and humanities programs

• museums and cultural institutions

• libraries and public humanities programs

• nonprofits and community-based organizations

• leadership teams 

• art centers, galleries, and public programs

• conferences and symposia

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SPEAKING FORMATS

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• keynote talks

• poetry + dialogue engagements

• fireside chats

• panel discussions

• moderated conversations

• faculty or staff development sessions

• community conversations

• gallery or exhibition talkbacks

• public humanities programs

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SELECTED EXCERPT FROM THE WORK

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From Sugar Uncoated: A to Z

Audacious and courageous ancestors freed themselves over arrogance, moored to shores beyond America…

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Paired with Dr. Greg Carr’s insight:

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“We did not come from slavery to freedom; we came from freedom to captivity.”

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This pairing exemplifies Dr. Price’s commitment to speaking truth to untruth and honoring the depth of Black ancestral memory and movement.

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RECENT WORKS

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• Sugar Uncoated (forthcoming book)

• Her Sugar is Too Sweet for Her Lover

• Pretty By Nature

• You See What I See​​​​​​​​​​​​​