Dominique Christina

Life

Christina's family holds a legacy in the Civil Rights Movement. Her grandfather was a Hall of Famer in the Negro Leagues while her aunt was one of the Little Rock Nine, paving the way for her passion for activism and her celebration of the colored girl.

She was a 1996 Olympic Volleyball selection, but she was not a member of the United States team which competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics due to an injury (broken navicular bone on her left hand) during The Olympic Festival. She was a licensed teacher for ten years and holds a double Master's in English Literature and Education.

Dominique is mother to four children and is partnered with Overland High School Head Boys Basketball Coach, Danny Fisher, who was a standout high school basketball player in his own right for leading his team at Hinkley High School in Aurora CO to their first state championship in 1994 and who coached Overland Boys Basketball to two back to back state championships (2015&2016) as well as winning the Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas in December 2015, a national basketball tournament. Dominique and Danny (also known as Khaliq Ali) are rumored to have dated in high school when both attended Machebeuf Catholic in Denver, Colorado. Both received athletic scholarships out of high school. Danny for basketball, graduating from the Colorado School of Mines, and Dominique for volleyball, graduating from the University of the Pacific.

The Bones, The Breaking, The Balm: A Colored Girl's Hymnal

Christina's first book of poetry was published in 2014 by Penmanship Books in New York. Christina's first published work "is as much confession as it is celebration of all the music and macabre that make us so deeply human...so impossibly free."

They Are All Me

Christina's second full length collection was published in 2015 by Swimming with Elephants Publications. In her second collection, Christina "delves into the hard truths of past historical traumas re-emerging into our everyday lives. These poems do not run away; they run toward the reader with both brutal honesty and nuanced imagery she has come to master. Poems include: "The Period Poem," "Birmingham Sunday," "Karma," "Emmett Till (Strange Fruit)" and more."

Reviews

"Dominique Christina has refused to flee, finesse or fandango the brutal history of the African-American people, which is the story of the treacherous, murderous capitalist system itself. Here is a collection of poetry which explores the depths of compassion along with her rage; of a linguistic brilliance and of praise for the entourage of African-American heroes and martyrs who are part of all our souls' memories," Jack Hirschman, fellow poet/activist.

This Is Woman's Work: Calling Forth Your Inner Council of Wise, Brave, Crazy, Rebellious, Loving, Luminous Selves

Christina's third published work debuted in 2015 courtesy of Sounds True Publishing. In this piece, Christina "explores 20 archetypes of female behavior in her warm-hearted third book. Each chapter is devoted to a different archetype, with poetry, attribute lists, writing exercises, and historical, spiritual, and literary examples woven throughout. The book is intended to help women define themselves and engage with archetypal behaviors, such as the "Wombed and Willing Woman" and the "Rebel and Journey Woman." Christina writes that 'to fully know yourself is to reckon with all of these forms, all of these incarnations of womanness—to embrace, finally, the community of women that lives in all of us.' The boundaries Christina chooses to draw could be seen as simplistic, but her evocative and intimate voice effectively entwines her personal experiences with broader insights, inviting the reader to deconstruct the racist, sexist, and stereotypical paradigms of womanhood they have inherited. Her rich imagery, lyrical tone, and sharp acumen provide a refreshingly honest and nuanced guide for self-exploration. She successfully creates a safe, empowering space for women to find and create themselves," Publishers Weekly, October 2015.

Awards

Dominique Christina has earned five national titles in her four years as a spoken word poet. Her titles include:

Christina is the only person to have held two national titles at once and the only person to have won two Women of the World Poetry Championships.

Works

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