Julea Ward. Photo courtesy of the Alliance Defense Fund.

Jeers to the Detroit Free Press for a headline identifying an anti-gay Eastern Michigan University graduate student as an aspiring social worker. (To read the article click here).

U.S. District Judge George Steeh dismissed a lawsuit filed by Julea Ward, a graduate student who refused to counsel a gay client because it conflicted with her beliefs.

The headline of the article identifed Ward as a “social-work student.” However, she was enrolled in the counseling program, which is part of the College of Education, according to university spokesman Walter Kraft.

 Ward was kicked out of the graduate program when she asked that a gay client be assigned to another counselor. The Alliance Defense Fund, a national religious liberty group, said they will appeal the judge’s dismissal of Ward’s case.

The National Association of Social Workers  supports equal treatment for all, including members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community. To find out more click here to visit the association’s Diversity and Equity Web page.

Judy Postmus. Photo courtesy of Rutgers University.

Victims of economic abuse are better able to manage finances after taking a money management curriculum, according to an exploratory study from the Rutgers University School of Social Work’s Center on Violence Against Women and Children.

Abusers often use economic methods, including running up credit card debt and withholding paychecks, to control victims. Victims of domestic abuse can also be reluctant to leave because of money.

The center studied 120 women and one man who completed their “Moving Forward Through Money Management” curriculum. The curriculum gave participants more confidence in handling finances. For instance, 88 percent of participants set financial goals for themselves after taking the course.

The exploratory study highlights a trend that needs more attention, researchers said. “Ask people about abuse and economics abuse is way down on the list,” said Judy Postmus, an assistant professor at the Rutgers social work school, director of the Center on Violence Against Women and Children, and National Association of Social Workers member.

To read a press release on the study click here and to read a myCentralJersey.com article on the study click here.

To learn more about how social workers help domestic violence victims visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Domestic Violence Web page by clicking here.

Jean Oda Moy (inset) and the cover of her book "Snow on Willow: A Nisei Memoir"

Social worker and author Jean Oda Moy knows what it is like to be an outsider.

She was born in 1926 in Washington State to parents from Japan. Although the Japanese community was close-knit, Moy remembers some white people called her “Jap” and tauntingly told her to go back home, salespeople often ignored her, and Japanese Americans were not allowed in public swimming pools.

The situation reversed when her family returned to Japan shortly before the outbreak of World War II. She soon discovered she was also an “other” in Japan.

“I was treated as an outsider because initially I could not read nor speak Japanese fluently and because of the anti-U.S. sentiment there,” she told SocialWorkersSpeak.org via email. “I was called ‘Yankee girl’ and treated as an outcast. In a land where social conformity is and was of utmost importance, being different is anathema, and I was different. As a teenager, those were painful years for me.”

Moy writes in her new memoir, “Snow on Willow: A Nisei Memoir,” about growing up in America during Great Depression. She also survived bombings and food shortages in Japan during World War II and visited the city of Hiroshima soon after it was destroyed by an atomic bomb.

The fast-moving book also chronicles how a very independent Moy defied Japan’s second-class treatment of women and moved back to the United States alone to further her education.

Jean Moy on the boat Hikawa Maru when her family returned to Japan in 1940. Photo from "Snow on Willow."

She went on to get a bachelors degree in psychology from Brandeis University, a master’s degree in Japanese from Standford University, and a master’s in psychiatric social work from University of California Berkeley. Moy worked as a clinical social worker in private practice for 30 years.

She also translated three Japanese books into English and won the Cultural Award from the Japan Society of Translators for her work translating the book Tun-huang by celebrated 20^th century author Yasushi Inouye.

Growing up in Japanese and American cultures and in a home of an alcoholic and sometimes violent father influenced her social work career, Moy said.

“I think that having lived in both countries helped me to understand that beneath cultural differences people are all alike,” said Moy, who lives in Los Altos, CA. “That is, although they may express their feelings and beliefs in different ways, they are all human beings who love, hate, get angry, anxious, scared and happy.”

You can purchase a copy of Moy’s book on Amazon.com. To learn more click here.

You can also listen to Moy reading and excerpt of her book at the Palo Alto City Library by clicking here.

Social workers such as Jean Oda Moy are charged with treating people of all racial, cultural and sexual backgrounds with fairness, respect and with dignity. To learn more visit the National Association of Social Workers Diversity & Cultural Competency Web page by clicking here.

Pepe was addicted to PCP for two decades but went on to earn a master’s degree in social work from Widener University. She just opened Myra’s Place in a former tavern. Myra’s Place, which was named after a friend who disappeared in 1983, is a place where women can go for help dealing with addiction or violence at home.

“Everyone should have a safe place to come to,” Pepe said.

To learn more about how social workers help people grappling with drug and alcohol dependency visit the National Association of Social Workers “Help Starts Here” Addiction Web page by clicking here. Social workers also help women and men escape from domestic violence. Click here to read more on “Help Starts Here.”

Dorothy Stowe. Photo courtesy of TV5Monde.

Social worker and Greenpeace co-founder Dorothy Stowe died on Friday at age 89, according to this article in the Vancouver Sun.

When the United States in 1970 announced it would do nuclear testing off the coast of Alaska Dorothy and husband Irving teamed up with couple Jim and Marie Bohlen to form an environmental protest group. That group, the Don’t Make a Wave committee, became Greenpeace.

Stowe was born Dorothy Anne Rabinowitz. She graduated from Pembroke, a women’s college at Brown University, and became a psychiatric social worker before getting involved in environmental activism.

She and her husband were Quakers and adopted the name Stowe in honor of Harriet Beecher Stowe, a Quaker abolitionist and author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

Jan Ligon. Photo courtesy of Georgia State University where Ligon is an associate professor.

National Association of Social Workers member Jan Ligon, PhD, LCSW, became a specialist in drug addiction crisis services after taking care of his own son, who died at age 35 after taking heroin and cocaine.

Ligon is quoted extensively in this CNN article about signs parents can look for to tell their child is addicted to drugs. Drug addiction among young people is getting more attention in the news due to the arrest and sentencing of actress and teen idol Lindsay Lohan.

Lohan on July 6 was sentenced to 90 days in jail fo rmissing alcohol counseling services in violation of probation. The judge ordered her to sign up for an additional 90 days of drug and alcohol counseling after serving her term.

Social worker Jan Ligon offers more detailed advice on dealing with a loved with a drug or alcohol addiction on NASW’s “Help Starts Here” Web site. To read it, click here.

Mental health workers working with Haitian earthquake survivors. Photo courtesy of Huffington Post.

The devastating, deadly Haitian earthquake occurred six months ago but survivors are still suffering the physical and psychological effects of the disaster.

Cheers to the Huffington Post for this article about a team of Haitian counselors who help survivors deal with post traumatic stress disorder.  The program was started in April by the Aristide Foundation for Democracy, in cooperation with a group of social workers and doctoral students from the University of Michigan.

Social worker and doctoral candidate Leah James, who specializes in post traumatic stress disorder, trained the 10 Haitian counselors.

Her moving opinion piece in the Atlanta Journal Constitution portrays the plight of former foster children. She was accepted into a master’s degree program at  New York University’s Silver School of Social Work. However, Gifford is $15,000 short of the money needed because she has no parent available to cosign a loan.

“While I don’t have a problem with being a statistic, I no longer want to be a negative statistic,” she wrote. “I want more than anything to be one of the few who made it. But even more than that, I want to be one of the ones who remembered to reach out to help someone else.”

To learn more about how social workers help foster children, visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Adoptions and Foster Care Web page by clicking here.

Photo of Joan Najbar and the letter that mistakenly said her son had died in Iraq. Photo courtesy of the Boston Globe.

Social worker Joan Najbar, MSW, LICSW, sued the United States when a letter she sent her son serving in Iraq in 2006 was returned and marked “deceased.”

According to this article in the Star-Tribune in Minneapolis-St. Paul, U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz recently threw out the case, saying he had no jurisdication to rule on this controversial matter. Najbar had also sought $118,000 in damages from the U.S. Postal Service but was twice denied.

“This happened while he was.. being shot at in Baghdad. That’s not OK…not to even say oops or sorry,” Najbar said.

Q: Should Najbar continue her legal battle or let the matter drop?

Pawloski is working toward a master’s degree in social work from California State University, Bakersfield. He is also  artistic director of the Late Night Show at The Empty Space, a live theater in Bakersfield. Pawloski, who works for the county, tries to incorporate his love for social work with theater.

The theater recently ran “Mr. Marmalade,” a play about domestic violence, and “Dear Harvey,” a biography of gay rights activist Harvey Milk. The theater donated $500 from “Dear Harvey” to a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights organization.

“It’s changed the type of plays I do,”  Pawloski said of social work. ”I used to do fluffy, silly kind of stuff; now I’m more into dark comedy. And I want to do plays that make people think, that educate people.”

Social worker Sari Greene visits Eddye Williams, reportedly Washington, D.C.'s oldest resident. Photo courtesy of the Washington Post.

Cheers to the Washington Post for this article about Eddye Williams, who at age 110 is reportedly the oldest resident of Washington, D.C., and her 85-year-old daughter Edythe Simmons.

Simmons was hospitalized for a long time but became part of a Washington Hospital Center program to care for very sick elderly people in their homes. As a result she was recently reunited with her mother in a home they shared after living in a nursing home for three years.

The article said the home health care program also provided a social worker for Simmons and Williams. Social worker Sari Greene makes regular visits and coordinated Simmons move back to the residence.

The article is a good example of how social workers are an important part of the American health care system and provide valuable services to our nation’s rapidly growing elder population.

To learn more about how social workers such as Greene help the elderly visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Seniors & Aging Web page by clicking here.

Annette Baran. Photo courtesy of YouTube.

Social worker, psychotherapist and National Association of Social Workers member Annette Baran revolutionized the world of adoption.

Beginning in the 1950s Baran, ACSW, was director of adoptions at what was formerly called Visa Del Mar Child-Care Service in West Los Angeles. According to this obituary in the Los Angeles Times adoptions then were closed, with adoptive parents and adoptees not given information about or contact with birth parents.

However, Baran began to change her mind about this practice when a birth mother wanted to interview the adopted parents before relinquishing her child. Baran arranged the meeting without her agency knowing.

“And I sat there listening to the three of them,”  Baran said in this interview  posted on YouTube.  ”And I thought there is nothing wrong with this. This is really pretty good. Why does everything have to be this secret? What is all that nonsense about?”

Baran went on to become of the nation’s leading advocates for open adoptions and co-author of  “The Adoption Triangle,” a 1978 book that helped shaped the open adoption movement.

Baran died on July 11 at age 83 from complications from an infection. However, her legacy lives on.

The research from Baran and others proved adopted people who are connected to birth families feel more normal and whole and birth parents are relieved of lingering anxiety over what happened to the children they gave up.

“She became the Joan of Arc of open adoption,” her son Joshua said. “To the adoptees, she was their hero. At conferences, they would cheer her and weep.”

Kameri Christy-McMullin. Photo courtesy of 4029TV.com

Employees should be aware that domestic violence in their homes or the homes of their co-workers can come into the office with tragic results, social worker Kameri Christy-McMullin said in this interview with Arkansas’ 4029TV.com.

“Oftentimes an abusive partner will call the job a lot either harass the woman while she’s at work or her colleagues and even will show up at work and interfere with her time, will prevent her from going to work,” said Christy-McMullin, DSW, an associate professor at the University of Arkansas School of Social Work.

4029TV interviewed Christy-McMullin after a recent workplace shooting in New Mexico left three people dead and four injured.

Christy-McMullin, who is a National Association of Social Workers member, said more companies have become aware that domestic violence could spill over into their premises and are posting professional security guards.

To learn more about how social workers help end domestic violence visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Web page on the issue by clicking here.

Sharone White Bailey. Photo courtesy of DelmarvaNow.com.

SocialWorkersSpeak.org would like to offer its condolescences to the family of Sharone White Bailey, MSW, a National Association of Social Workers member who was stabbed to death July 9. For more information on the crime, read this article on DemarvaNow.com.

White Bailey, 57, who lived in Exmore on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, was part owner and clinical director for Therapeutic Interventions in Belle Haven. Therapeutic Interventions is a community mental health provider that has served more than 400 children since it launched two years ago.

White Bailey was known for her generosity and was named 2010 Eastern Shore Citizen of the Year just three weeks ago. She leaves behind husband Roland “Butch” Bailey Jr. and stepdaughters Rori Bailey and Dana Bailey. To read her obituary click here.

Suspect Derrick Demond Epps, 36, was arrested soon after White Bailey’s body was found in her home. According to White Bailey’s family Epps suffered from mental illness and White Bailey tried to help him.

“She didn’t expect he would be that violent,” Roland Bailey told the Virginian-Pilot in this article. “He needed help and apparently he didn’t get it quick enough.”

Nguyen Hoang Anh, 14, was branded, had his teeth pulled out and solvents poured in his wounds by a couple who employed him on a shrimp farm. The couple was recently sentenced to more than 20 years in prison and the case has raised public awareness about child abuse in Vietnam.

 ”We don’t consider beating a child to be violence against children,” said Nguyen Hai Huu, director of the Ministry for Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs’ child-protection unit.

Vietnam recently recognized the social work profession and has launched a push to overhaul its social support system over the next decade.

The National Association of Social Workers  has a Human Rights and International Affairs Division that helps engage members with social work efforts around the globe. To learn more, click here.

Yael Lehmann. Photo courtesy of The Food Trust.

The Food Trust, an organization that helps promote access to affordable, healthy food, will use federal stimulus money to encourage Philadelphia corner food stores to stock more fruits and vegetables, according to this Philly.com article.

Social worker Yael Lehmann, MSW, is executive director of the Food Trust. Officials hope federal funds for healthier foods and the Food Trust’s work will help stave off a health care crisis in the city by preventing heart attacks, strokes, cancer, and diabetes, and by lowering health-care costs.

“We’ve been able to show store operators that there is customer demand for fresh foods,” Lehmann said. “There’s a misconception that people (in poor neighborhoods) don’t want fresh food. And we’re showing store owners that fruits and vegetables are actually profitable to sell.”

Childhood obesity is a major problem in the United States and First Lady Michelle Obama is spearheading a campaign to combat it. The National Association of Social Workers supports these efforts. In fact, the association monitored a Senate hearing on the issue. To learn more click here. Social workers also help consumers live healthier lives. To find out more click here to visit the NASW’s “Help Starts Here” Healthy Lifestyles Web page by clicking here. 

Suzanne Dworak-Peck

Suzanne Dworak-Peck served as president of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW).  Elected in 1986, her term of office ran from July 1, 1987 to June 30, 1989.

Suzanne Dworak-Peck is a past president of the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW), which represents more than 500,000 social workers in over 80 countries around the world.  Currently, she is IFSW’s first, and only, ambassador.  She is also the founder of NCN, the NASW Communications Network, Inc.  NCN has provided the media and entertainment industry with a centralized information and resource outlet for social issues, nationally and internationally and other programs including the “Si” awards to recognize outstanding portrayals of social workers and social issues.

 She received her BA cum laude in psychology from the University of Southern California, where she also earned her MSW as an NIMH Fellow.  A social work practitioner, Suzanne Dworak-Peck has spent much of her career working with vulnerable and traditionally excluded populations as well as providing clinical supervision and treatment to families and individuals.  She has served as adjunct assistant professor of social work at the University of Southern California and has held field faculty appointments at UCLA School of Social Welfare, and within the California State University system.  At USC, she chaired Los Amigos and served on the Board of Councillors.  Additionally, she chaired the California Board of Behavioral Sciences which regulates the legal practice of over 40,000 licensees in clinical social work, educational psychology, and marriage, family, and child counseling.

 As president and founding member of the California Coalition for Mental Health representing over 30 mental health organizations and as president twice of the California Council of Psychiatry, Psychology, Social Work and Nursing, Dworak-Peck represented more than 40,000 mental health professionals.  She served on the Interdisciplinary Advisory Committee of the Journal of Hospital and Community Psychiatry as well as has represented social work at the National Mental Health Leadership Forum, composed of over 35 national consumer and provider organizations.  She was Co-Chair of the National “Mental Illness in America” hearings and was on the Board of the National Mental Health Leadership Foundation.

 Dworak-Peck is also a past presidetn of the California Chapter of NASW and chaired the Political Action, Legislative, and Koshland Awards Committee.  Currently she is a member of the Social Work Image Council, the Hall of Distinction to recognize California’s most significant social workers and the Strategic Planning Commission for the New Center for Psychoanalysis.

 Her activities in NASW at the national level included the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee.  She was Co-Chair and Treasurer of the PACE Board of Trustees.  She also chaired the Delegate Assembly and the Western States Coalition.  Recently, she chaired the International Rhoda G. Sarnat Committee and, at present, she chairs the Campaign Advisory Committee for NASW Foundation’s National Social Work Public Education Campaign.

 Among her honors is the distinction of Social Worker of the Year, California Chapter; Selection as one of five social workers to represent the profession in the Centennial Exhibit; Governor’s appointment to the White House Conference on Families; Co-Chair of the National Institute of Mental Health/State of California Mental Health Manpower Advisory Panel; Governor’s appointment to the Board of Behavioral Sciences, and the International Communications Industries Association Achievement Award.  She served as Vice President for North America of the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) and as the U.S. delegate on the Executive Committee.  NASW co-presented her with the first International Rhoda G. Sarnat Award for advancing the public image of social work. 

Biography courtesy of Suzanne Dworak-Peck.

The National Association of Social Workers Communications Network Advisory Committee. Top row from left: Sherry Amatenstein, George Anderson and Matt Anderson. Second row from left: Matt Conn, Kirstin Downey and Suzanne Dworak-Peck. Third row from left: Antwone Fisher, Kathy Gurland and Jenna Mehnert. Bottom row from left: Oren Moverman, Maribel Quiala and Terrie Williams. Not pictured: Ellen Rostand.

The National Association of Social Workers is announcing it has formed an advisory committee of Hollywood writers, award-winning journalists, social workers involved in the media and others to educate the public about social workers and increase awareness of the profession.

The NASW Communications Network (NCN) Advisory Committee members include author and Pulitzer-winning Washington Post reporter Kirstin Downey; Academy Award-nominated director and screenwriter Oren Moverman; social worker, anger management expert and movie consultant George Anderson; author and screenwriter Antwone Fisher; and social worker, author and national columnist Sherry Amatenstein.

“Social work is an exciting and rewarding profession that sometimes does not get the notice and respect it deserves in media and society,” said NASW Executive Director Elizabeth J. Clark, PhD, ACSW, MPH. “We are thrilled that the members of our new advisory committee want to help attract civic-minded students to the profession, help more people find and support social work services in their communities, and include social work perspectives in a variety of media.”

The NCN Advisory Committee will identify ways to promote social work roles in television and film, position more social workers as consumer education experts, inform public policy debates with social work research, and increase interest among youth about the social work profession.

Below is a list of advisory board members. Please click on their names to read full biographies:

• Sherry Amatenstein, MSW, LMSW: Social worker, author, columnist and talk show guest.
• George Anderson, MSW: Social worker, anger management firm owner and movie consultant.
• Matt Anderson, MSW: Social worker and documentary film producer.
• Matt Conn: Communications director at the University of Maryland Baltimore School of Social Work and university admissions expert.
• Kirsten Downey: Author, award-winning journalist and former Washington Post reporter.
• Suzanne Dworak-Peck, MSW: Past president of NASW and International Federation of Social Workers, NASW Communications Network founder.
• Antwone Fisher: Author of “Antwone Fisher,” Hollywood screenwriter and former foster child.
• Kathy Gurland, MSW: Social worker, founder of “Peg’s Group” cancer consulting service, national columnist  and former actress.
• Jenna Mehnert, MSW: Social worker, NASW-Pennsylvania executive and former political staffer.
• Oren Moverman: Oscar-nominated movie director, screenwriter and former reporter.
• Maribel Quiala, MSW, LCSW: Social worker, women’s health and Latina issues media expert.
• Ellen Rostand, MBA: Assistant dean of communications, Brown School of Social Work, Washington University. Former health care communications executive.
• Terrie Williams, MSW: Social worker, author, PR firm and Stay Strong Foundation founder.

NASW’s new media advisory committee builds upon the work of NASW Past President Suzanne Dworak-Peck, who founded NCN in the early 1990s. Part of the NCN’s activities include acting as a Hollywood referral source. NCN has now been incorporated into the multi-year National Social Work Public Education Campaign, which is made possible by donations made to the NASW Foundation.

Since the awareness campaign launched in 2005, NASW has placed print ads in national women’s magazines, conducted national consumer issue surveys, placed billboards around state capitals and in Times Square, implemented social media campaigns, aired a national video, built a series of educational websites, and connected hundreds of media professionals with social work experts. NASW recently expanded its earned media strategy to develop new relationships in the entertainment industry and offers three public education sites:

• Help Starts Here.org provides consumer tips on a range of social issues
• SocialWorkersSpeak.org provides a forum about social work portrayals in film, TV and news
• BeASocialWorker.org offers students information on how to pursue a social work career

Oren Moverman

Oren Moverman is an Oscar nominated, New York based screenwriter and director.

 The Messenger, Oren’s directorial debut, starring Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson and Samantha Morton, was nominated for a Best Screenplay (with Alessandro Camon) at the 82^nd Annual Academy Awards.  The film was also nominated for Best Screenplay and Best First Feature at the 2010 independent Spirit Awards. Oren received The Spotlight Award for Best Directorial Debut from the National Board of Review in 2010.  

 The Messenger premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and had its international premiere at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival where it was awarded the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay and the Peace Prize. The film was also awarded the Grand Jury Prize and International Critics Prize at the 2010 Deauville American Film Festival.

 Oren co-wrote Todd Haynes’ 2007 Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There, starring Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Richard Gere, Michelle Williams, Julianne Moore and Charlotte Gainsbourg, a Weinstein Company release. 

 He also collaborated with Ira Sachs on the screenplay for Married Life, a Sony Pictures Classics release starring Rachel McAdams, Chris Cooper, Pierce Brosnen and Patricia Clarkson, and on The Goodbye People, currently casting. 

 Oren penned Interrupted about legendary director Nicholas Ray, with Phillip Kaufman directing, and William Burroughs’ Queer for actor/director Steve Buscemi.  Both films are currently casting for a 2011 shoot.

 Oren served as screenwriter of Face, an Indican release, starring Bai Ling, Treach and Kristy Wu.  Directed by Bertha Bay-As Pan, Face premiered in competition at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival.

 Oren was also a co-screenwriter and associate producer of Jesus’ Son, a 2000 Lion’s Gate/Alliance Release.  Directed by Alison Maclean, the film stars Billy Crudup, Samantha Morton, Jack Black, Holly Hunter & Dennis Hopper. 

Biography courtesy of Oren Moverman.

Antwone Fisher

Today, we know Antwone Fisher as an award-winning film and literary writer. However, his life did not begin with such promise…

Born Antwone Quenton Fisher in an Ohio prison to a teenaged mother, Antwone became a ward of the state and was placed in foster care immediately. He spent two years in a loving foster home, but when Social Services deemed that his foster mother had become too attached to Antwone – coupled with his father having been murdered and determining a reunion with his birth mother would be too difficult for him – Antwone was placed in another foster home. Unfortunately, he would suffer twelve years of abuse at the hands of this new foster family.

At age 14, when Antwone stood up to his foster mother’s malevolence, she threw him out. Social services sent him to a reform school. However, when he was emancipated out of the school at 17, he found himself homeless.

However, he survived foster care’s cruelties and the brutalities of homelessness by setting on a course of healing when he joined the United States Navy where he served this country for eleven years, and became fluent in Japanese.

After the Navy, Antwone’s path to his current career began with a less glamorous job as a Correctional Officer with the Federal Bureau of Prisons and after three years he took a job as a security officer at Sony Pictures… However, it was there upon hearing about his interest in writing that someone referred Antwone to a free screenwriting course. And the rest, as they say, is history…

Antwone has now worked in Hollywood for sixteen years as a writer and producer, with an impressive fourteen writing projects with the major studios.

Among those projects is a feature classic, Antwone Fisher (Fox Searchlight), directed by and starring Oscar®-winning actor, Denzel Washington and written by Antwone based on his life. Antwone, the film and cast garnered quite a few nominations and awards. Antwone individually received the renowned Humanitas Prize, the Screenwriter of the Year Award from the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO), and a Best Original Screenplay nomination for the Writers Guild of America Award. Antwone was also listed in Variety’s “Fifty People in Hollywood To Watch” and Fade In Magazine’s “Top 100 People in Hollywood You Need to Know”.
Antwone also took the literary world by storm with his first book, Finding Fish: a Memoir (William Morrow), about his inspiring story that became a New York Times bestseller. Unable to fully cover everything in a screenplay (and therefore the film), Antwone decided to write Finding Fish to not only expand on his incredible life’s journey, but divulge other dark chapters he had to overcome in his life.

He followed Finding Fish with his compelling collection of poetry entitled, Who Will Cry For The Little Boy? (William Morrow), that became a National Best Seller. Through the book’s poetry Antwone creatively discloses the inner truths of the road from his tumultuous childhood to the man he is now. Today, Who Will Cry… is considered one of the all time best-selling books of poetry. In addition, Antwone’s work of poetry is featured in revered poet, Nikki Giovanni’s book for children, Hip Hop Speaks to Children.

Due to the breadth of his life and career, Antwone’s has received other accolades including: the National Angel in Adoption Award and a Doctor of Humane Letters from Cleveland State University. Antwone was conferred the honorary degree for his professional achievements as an author, producer, poet and screenwriter, his loyalty to his community, his personal triumphs and his indomitable spirit of never giving up…

Antwone is now entering the theatre world with his new stage project, Finding Fish: a Play. Based on his New York Times bestseller, this one act stage adaption written by Antwone, not only probes further into the bleak depths of Antwone’s early life, but discloses stories not addressed in the film. The structure is a verbal and emotional parry between Antwone and Commander Williams, the Navy psychologist Antwone had to see to determine if he was fit for the Navy, after yet another fight with a fellow sailor. What unfolds is a story that ranges from dramatic to humorous to heartbreaking, but in the end, is triumphant…

Antwone directed and produced the play in a sold-out special benefit presentation at the acclaimed Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica, with captivating performances by Isaiah Washington (as “Antwone”) and Keith David (as “Commander Williams”). Antwone was honored to have a multi-generational and multi-cultural audience, that also gave the play a standing ovation.

In addition to securing the next production of Finding Fish: a Play, Antwone’s current screenwriting project is Training Day 2 (Warner Bros.). Antwone recently made his film directing debut with his short film, “My Summer Friend”, presently on the film festival circuit (mysummerfriendmovie.com). Antwone also teaches in the UCLA Extension Writers Program, the country’s largest continuing education writing program. Antwone’s current book is A Boy Should Know How To Tie A Tie And Other Lessons For Succeeding In Life, already in it’s third printing, Simon & Schuster’s Touchstone Fireside.

Today, Antwone has a loving family of his own with wife, LaNette and their two beautiful daughters, Indigo and Azure.

About how far he has come, Antwone stated, “I think back upon a childhood full of longing for belonging, and see my life now as what I have created out of my dreams. An image comes to mind of Mrs. Brown at the orphanage in Cleveland, me sitting at her side, telling her, “You’ll read about me someday.” I was definitely dreaming then… With no evidence of that ever being possible, I clung to that preposterous vision and with the force of those dreams willed it and made it happen. Not because I needed to be famous, but because I needed a world that made me feel uninvited to be wrong. So I imagined myself free, I imagined myself loved, I imagined myself… as somebody.”

Antwone no longer needs to imagine…

Biography and photo courtesy of antwonefisher.net.