Shereema Dumas

I was born in Brooklyn, NY and attended Crispus Attucks Elementary School in Bedford-Stuyvesant. I
continued at Winthrop Junior High School in Crown Heights where I studied Hebrew as my first
foreign language. Central Commercial High School is where I studied commercial studies and was in
the Junior Journalist and Future Teacher’s Clubs. I also was the co-editor of our school newspaper,
“The Clarion” with the English teacher as the editor. I was captain of the volleyball team. While in high
school during the late 1960’s, I participated with my mother and Shirley Chisolm in the Ocean HillBrownsville protests and the NYC Teacher’s Strike. The dedication shown by teachers who chose to
keep their schools open despite the strike is what ultimately changed my direction of academic
concentration to study elementary education at CUNY-City College. When I did start teaching it was
with a Special Education class and I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything, but it was difficult.
My main grades to teach were mostly 4th through 6th. My last year in the classroom was with 4th
grade in Saint Albans, NY in 1998. As a result of my personal experiences in life, I have become a
Women’s Advocate since 2000. I have organized and given women’s empowerment events. I have
written all my life from childhood. These days my writing I hope to be a source of compassion,
spiritual and healing for any who may read. I love helping others. It is a part of my philosophy to
follow the Golden Rule, “to do unto others as you would have others do unto you”. I follow that with
remembering to always, “Pay It Forward”!