Shannon Luders-Manuel

Critical Mixed Race Scholar and Writer

Hollywood, California

I am a master's graduate and freelance writer living in Los Angeles. My primary focus is on issues related to race, representation, and equality. I provide high quality content in many forms, including academic, op-ed, personal essay, and profiles. I also work as a freelance editor, content editor, sensitivity reader, and content writer for individual and corporate clients.

Shannon Luders-Manuel

Critical Mixed Race Scholar and Writer

Hollywood, California

Jarena Lee, The First Woman African American Autobiographer
Former first lady Michelle Obama’s memoir Becoming has taken the top spot on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list since its release. In fact, the memoir’s sales have beaten that of any other book printed in the United States this year. As the first black first lady, Obama has been viewed as a pioneer since she first entered the White House.
JSTOR Daily
JSTOR Daily
Blackkklansman in Context
How could a black man secretly infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan? Director Spike Lee and Producer Jordan Peele astounded viewers with the August release of the biographical comedy Blackkklansman. The poignant film tells the true story of Ron Stallworth—the first black police officer in Denver, CO, who proactively immersed himself in the KKK in 1972.
JSTOR Daily
JSTOR Daily
Black Panther and Double-Consciousness
There is no question that Marvel’s Black Panther has changed black cinema—and particularly black superhero cinema—forever. Along with other recent black-centered, award-winning films such as Get Out and Hidden Figures, Black Panther allows black viewers to see themselves in the protagonists on screen.
JSTOR Daily
JSTOR Daily
The Privileged and Impoverished Life of Phillis Wheatley
Scholars now believe that within Wheatley’s poems lay double meanings that allowed her to speak directly with her kinsfolk.
JSTOR Daily
JSTOR Daily
A Civil Rights Leader's Killer Sentenced 31 Years Late | JSTOR Daily
On June 11th, 1963, Mississippi Civil Rights activist Medgar Evers was fatally shot in his driveway, while his wife and children ducked for cover inside their home.
JSTOR Daily
JSTOR Daily
Barack Obama and the Nommo Tradition of Afrocentric Orality
Black actors, entertainers, and everyday citizens often have a particular cadence to their voices that others can identify as “black,” whether or not the listeners can see the individual speaking. Popular culture seems to think that black men sound wise simply by their voices alone, leading to black actors narrating myriad commercials, including Dennis Haysbert for Allstate Insurance and Samuel L.
JSTOR Daily
JSTOR Daily
Codifying What Counts as a Word in Scrabble | JSTOR Daily
When Alfred M. Butts first created a game called Lexico (or Lexiko) for his family in 1931, he had no idea a version of the game would still be played all across the globe decades later.
JSTOR Daily
JSTOR Daily
The Inequality Hidden Within the Race-Neutral G.I. Bill
This summer, President Trump stated that an increase in jobs would lessen racial divides and boost race relations, combating the type of tension seen in the Charlottesville protests. History has shown, however, that an increase in employment is not enough to boost the socioeconomic conditions of a minority population.
JSTOR Daily
JSTOR Daily
More Hidden Figures of NASA History
By now, just about everyone has heard of the 2016 film Hidden Figures, starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monáe, who portray of a group of black female “computers” at NASA’s Langley Research Center. The film, which has already garnered a number of awards, cast these once unsung pioneers into the public eye.
JSTOR Daily
JSTOR Daily
How African Americans Supported Evolution in the 1925 Scopes Trial
In July of this year, a prominent statue of antievolutionist William Jennings Bryan in Dayton, Tennessee acquired a new neighbor—a statue of Clarence Darrow, the evolutionist and criminal defense attorney who fought against Bryan in the 1925 Scopes “Monkey” Trial.
JSTOR Daily
JSTOR Daily
How The "Fag Hag" Went From Hated to Celebrated | JSTOR Daily
At its core, the relationship between single women and gay men has longstanding historical roots.
JSTOR Daily
JSTOR Daily
Who Runs the Running of the Bulls?
From July 6th to July 14th, Pamplona, Spain will host its annual bull run during the festival of San Fermín. Over one thousand onlookers from around the world gather together to witness a handful of bulls released into the street, as the bulls are herded toward the stadium where they will later be killed in a bullfight.
JSTOR Daily
JSTOR Daily
Race and Labor in the 1863 New York City Draft Riots
An enormous historical event that shaped New York City is not much spoken of today. In July 1863, about 1,200 to 1,500 men, mostly Irish dockworkers, rioted against the Civil War draft in New York City in a four-day upheaval, targeting black workers and citizens.
JSTOR Daily
JSTOR Daily
Humor and Race in “Dear White People” and “White Chicks”
Netflix is set to release the television show Dear White People, a spinoff of the 2014 movie of the same name. The trailer depicts a black radio host listing what is and isn’t appropriate for a Halloween costume and then cuts to white college students in blackface, noting that blackface is not an appropriate costume.
JSTOR Daily
JSTOR Daily

About

Shannon Luders-Manuel

Proofreading

Resume Building

Curriculum Writing

Editing

Content Writing

Book Reviewing

Academic Writing

Blogging

Teaching

Personal Essay

Resumes and Cover Letters

Tutoring

Ghostwriting

Lecturing

Public Speaking

Content Editing

ghostwriting

Sensitivity Reading

I work as a critical mixed race scholar and writer, through both academic and creative publications. With a background in such diverse areas as rhetoric, linguistics and creative writing, my work encapsulates a variety of writing styles, and my interests are likewise varied.

I was named Southern Oregon University's best graduate of the past 10 years by the college's linguistics professor. I then went on to receive my Masters in English Literature, where I produced an 80+ page thesis on the "tragic mulatta" genre. I have a scholarly publication in Vanderbilt University's online journal AmeriQuests, and I presented my SOU capstone paper on dictionary history at the Southeastern Conference on Linguistics.

In 2014, I was a featured writer at the Mixed Remixed Festival in Los Angeles for an in-progress memoir about taking care of my father at the end of life. In June 2016, my commissioned book "Being Biracial: Where Our Secret Worlds Collide: Educators' Guide" was published to accompany an anthology of the same name, published in 2015. I have also had the honor of writing profiles about Olympic open-water swimmer Lynne Cox and YoungArts winner and filmmaker Gabrielle Gorman.

I am passionate about using language to bridge divides between races and cultures and to connect with others on a personal level.