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Jade! (Jade D. Banks) is a writer/poet, book publisher, arts educator, producer, community folklorist, photographer and author of On Being Fat, Black and Female. A literary entrepreneur, she is fou...view moreJade! (Jade D. Banks) is a writer/poet, book publisher, arts educator, producer, community folklorist, photographer and author of On Being Fat, Black and Female. A literary entrepreneur, she is founder of Iman Books; publisher/executive editor of Signifyin' Harlem literary journal; creator of eleven journals for youth in the NYC School System and the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation; and publishing advisor for On Fire!! literary journal of Rider University. Jade! is currently Director of the Community Folk Culture Program at Mind-Builders, for which she co-wrote and performed in The Blues, Raps, Rhymes & Snaps presented at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, DC. She is also the NYC research coordinator and field photographer for The Will to Adorn project of the Smithsonian Museum. Jade! created curricula, workshops and walking tours of historic Harlem, the African Burial Ground and NYC Underground Railroad Stations for the acclaimed Harlem Is... public art project. Her self-actualization curriculum, Do You & Do What You Do!, has been contracted by Harlem’s Ecumenical Community Development Organization. Jade! was a poetry/spoken word artist-in-residence for the Schomburg Center (Junior Scholars Program) and tour manager for the U.S. Hottest Poets International Slam Team. Jade! was also workshop facilitator for the American Museum of Natural History’s Centennial Tribute to Langston Hughes and served as Artist Coordinator for the African Burial Ground National Monument Dedication Ceremony. Jade! is featured in the HBO/Cinemax documentary, Cutting Edge, and was filmed for Let’s Get the Rhythm. Her literary and photographic creations are archived at both the Smithsonian Museum (Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage) and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.view less