Akoma Ntoso

IDEAS EXPLORED IN TALK • AMERICAN HISTORY • TRADITIONAL ARTS • SOCIAL JUSTICE

Arts hold a vital place of importance in our society. Quilts, often seen as “women’s work” and “sheer arts and crafts” by some, have a prominent place in telling the struggles and triumphs of many cultures. Moreover, the African American community has fought to tell its stories and quilts have been used as an important vehicle to tell these stories. From individuals and guilds alike, the artistry of African American quilters can no longer be denied as frontrunners of the quilting scene.  Dr. Tony Jean Dickerson (she/her) was born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, and has earned degrees from Lincoln University, University of Central Missouri, and University of Missouri-Kansas City. In 2019, after a successful thirty-year career in education she earned her doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Kansas. She returned home in 2017 and became the lead faculty for Martin University’s School of Education’s Teacher Preparation Program in June of 2022. Besides teaching, Dr. Dickerson is a nationally recognized quilter and is a member of 8 local and national quilt guilds including the founding president of the Akoma Ntoso Modern Quilt Guild of Central Indiana.