Celebrate Maya Project

09/18/2026

Celebrate! Maya Project joins DeltaArts in our regret that Saturday's Celebration of our Crittenden County History Makers had to be postponed. We were looking forward to a wonderful day of fellowship and celebration. But if you live long enough, you know that things happen... and we're not always in control.

DeltaArts has already confirmed that December 5, 2026, is the new date for our event. Please put it on your calendars, and plan to join us for our Celebration of the Crittenden County History Makers and the launch of the students’ Community History Book!

Thank you to the Arkansas Arts Council for their invaluable support, which made this community project possible through a partial grant.

Thank you to the students of Crittenden County who devoted their Saturdays to interviewing local history makers, writing and rewriting their essays, and creating art expressions to include in the Crittenden County Community History Book.

A huge Thank You to DeltaARTS director Kerry Sullivan and her assistant, MacKenzie Mullen, for being amazing local coordinators of the project, and the hosts for the CMP-DeltaARTS Writing History sessions!

And finally, thank you to the CMP Team: award-winning journalist Katti Gray; education leader and former Arkansas Teacher of the Year Stacey McAdoo; educator/artist/poet LeRon McAdoo; and archivist and videographer Tanja Enoch. We are so grateful they shared their experience and passion with the students throughout the project.

It has been an amazing year of working with the students and History Makers! Come out on December 5, 2026, to meet the amazing Crittenden County History Makers, and see, firsthand, the final product of the students' hard work: the Crittenden County Community History Book!

09/11/2026

911 reminds us...
The success we enjoy today is not promised.
Our dreams may shatter.
Our loved ones may not continue on this journey with us.
Our perennial good luck and successes are not guaranteed.
But today...If we are breathing, if we are clear-minded, able to care, to do good...
then we are still part of the blessed, still able to make a difference in this world.

08/29/2026

I’ve been thinking about Dolly Parton…

I've been thinking a lot over the last few days about Dolly Parton, wondering why it is that her death hits me the way it has. I never met her, never talked with anyone who actually knew her. Yet, I was always drawn to her living-out-loud personality. Her seemingly open-book way of talking about her life, especially her childhood, her parents, and even the interesting stories around her nontraditional marriage.

I’m thinking it may have something to do with our shared love for books, for reading and stories. We both understood that reading has the power to transcend all the isms in the world, all the geographical and economic restrictions we or the world place on us. That children’s lives can be irrevocably changed once they learn to read. Beyond that, I’m moved that our childhoods were similar to a point—we both grew up dirt poor, and thanks to our under-educated but wise parents, we imagined what lay on the other side of those mountains that separated us from our possibilities.

I liked Dolly Parton. I loved her voice, and the stories she told in her singing. I am sorry I never met her. I've always believed I had my mother's gift of discernment, sensing a person's heart after spending a short time with them. But even through the screen and the printed stories, I sensed Dolly's genuine heart, her self-deprecation; her "seeing" others that many in her position looked past; her never forgetting where she came from, or the people who got her there.

There was something innocent about Dolly Parton. How many 80-year-olds can you say that about? That "aw-shucks" personality had a lot to do with that. For someone with so many accomplishments and so much to be proud of. Yet, her pride didn't separate her from her admirers. If anything, she seemed to work hard to keep her feet on the ground, in spite of the hair, the retooled body, the rhinestones, and the makeup. She had a way of coming through the screen and making us feel better about waking up that day.

I'm not 100% certain what Dolly Parton's political or personal positions were on the issues that mean so much to me: women's rights, children's empowerment, education and health equity, racial and gender equity...and, yes, diversity and inclusion. Maybe she had no "official" position. Maybe she just believed in treating everyone fairly regardless of who they were, or what they looked like.

Here’s the other thing. I keep thinking of Maya as I think of Dolly's leaving us. Those two huge personalities had to have crossed paths at some point. For some strange reason, I get the feeling they will find each other up there and spend a lot of time together - laughing and gossiping, and mulling over this world they left behind. I wonder if they realize the huge vacuums they left behind. My guess is that they'd love it if some woman, young or old, would do what they can to fill those shoes, those vacuums, and make the world better by trying.

07/30/2026

As founder and president of Celebrate! Maya Project, a small Arkansas nonprofit, it is always exciting to meet extraordinary young people around the state through our literacy, arts, and history programs that honor the life of Dr. Maya Angelou, whose healing and literary passions began in the small town of Stamps, Arkansas.

This year, we had the pleasure of meeting young Derika Wilson and immediately realized there was something very special about her.
Most surprising was learning that Derika was born and raised in my own hometown of Gould, Arkansas! Unlike me, however, she was blessed with a voice that just may change the world. We'll be watching...and listening.

This fall, Derika is off to Berklee College of Music in Boston...all the way from Gould, a tiny Delta town known for railroad tracks, excruciatingly long trains, cotton farms, Cummins Prison Farm, and a history of dire poverty.

Though born in Gould, Derika graduated from the historic Central High School in Little Rock in 2026, where she won a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music, an amazing feat and one that makes her family, her friends, and her teachers extremely proud.

However, while her scholarship gets her in the door and affords the possibilities of future opportunities, it does not cover all her immediate needs. Celebrate! Maya Project wants to help.

We were moved beyond words recently by Derika's participation with CMP at the Arkansas Juneteenth Summit, honoring the memory of Dr. Maya Angelou and perfectly symbolizing the importance of art and music in our lives.

Please consider helping us ensure that Derika has a positive and successful first year at Berklee. Despite the scholarship, she will have to purchase more personal items than she can afford.

We want to help Derika become all that she can be by donating to her School/Travel fund. You can help! Please consider giving in one of two ways:

Derika's Cash App: $derika0428

Derika's GoFundMe:

https://gofund.me/f9a186ce3

If you have further questions, feel free to reach out to: [email protected]

Thank you,
Janis F. Kearney, President & Founder
Celebrate! Maya

06/20/2026

Thank you to Mosaic Templar Cultural Center for the brilliant ex*****on of the inaugural Juneteenth Summit. What an awesome task, but what an awesome team - and leader, in Ms. Quantia Fletcher.

Celebrate! Maya Project was so proud to be a part of this awesome day.
It was storytelling at its best. I only wish I could have attended each session.

Thank you to the state of Arkansas, and the city of Little Rock for giving this event the placement it deserved. I can only imagine what next year’s Summit will entail.

Special thanks to my cohorts in yesterday’s “Celebrating Maya Angelou” session, the young and brilliant Drew Pirtle of Blytheville, and Derika Wilson, of Gould, Arkansas.

06/09/2026

We are EXTREMELY excited to be a part of Mosaic Templars Cultural Center's historical 2026 Juneteenth Summit, on Friday, June 19th at noon, in the Robinson Center Performance Hall - 426 W. Markham St, Little Rock, AR.
It is a great honor to share this day with the iconic Little Rock Nine members Elizabeth Eckford, Carlotta Walls Lanier, Terrence Roberts, and the many other presenters on this historical program!

Please join us as we share Maya Angelou's transformative story in poetry, music, and historical narrative. A story of a riveting journey that took young Marguerite Johnson from St. Louis, Missouri, to Stamps, Arkansas, and to...the world!

Program presenters will include Janis F. Kearney, founder of Celebrate! Maya Project; Drew Pirtle, a University of Arkansas student and award-winning poet, and Derika Wilson, a recent graduate of Central High School and recipient of a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music. Join us as we Celebrate Maya Angelou by sharing her stories in music, poetry, and words.
For more information, contact us at [email protected]

05/28/2026

We are so excited to see an amazing Juneteenth evolution in Arkansas! Congratulations to Director Quantia "Key" Fletcher, and the Mosaic Templars Cultural Centeron this year's Inaugural Juneteenth Summit, scheduled for June 19, 2026!

Celebrate! Maya Project is honored to be part of this dynamic, interactive, educational and cultural event. See the day's schedule below:

The two-story dogtrot structure was constructed by Jacob Wolf in 1829 as the first permanent courthouse for Izard County in Arkansas Territory.

05/10/2026

It's Mother's Day, and in honor of this day, we share an excerpt from Maya Angelou's poem written in honor of her mother.

"Mother, I have learned enough now
To know I have learned nearly nothing.
On this day
When mothers are being honored,
Let me thank you
That my selfishness, ignorance, and mockery
Did not bring you to
Discard me like a broken doll
Which had lost its favor.
I thank you that
You still find something in me
To cherish, to admire and to love.

I thank you, Mother.
I love you."

Maya Angelou. "Mother, A Cradle To Hold Me." Family Friend Poems, https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/mother-a-cradle-to-hold-me-by-maya-angelou

04/22/2026

Just, Thank You, Little Rock, Stamps and Arkansas for making our 2026 celebration of Dr. Maya Angelou's Birthday, a memorable one! From our two performances of the play, "Life Doesn't Frighten Me," by the Metro Theater Company from St. Louis, to our Still We Rise: Spirit of Maya Awards Luncheon at the William J. Clinton Presidential Center. Special thank you to Jacqueline Thompson, and Carl Overly, who worked with me for six months as we planned the Arkansas performances of the Play, based on Maya Angelou's 1993 Poem, "Life Doesn't Frighten Me."

There are so many people to thank. Phyllis Stickney, you are one PHENOMENAL woman. It was such an honor to bestow on you, the 2026 Spirit of Maya Award. It was beautiful getting to know you during our short time together and your luncheon speech was absolutely awesome. I can't wait for your next trip to Arkansas! Thamiah Tutt, CEO and President of the Dr. Maya Angelou Foundation - thank you for being an advocate and a friend. We look forward to working with you and contributing to the upcoming Maya Angelou Centennial; Caylin Johnson, co-president of the Caged Bird Legacy, and granddaughter of the one and only Dr. Maya Angelou, thank you for finding time to join us. We look forward to planning a youth project here in Arkansas around your next visit! Mayor Frank Scott, Jr. Scott, thank you for finding the time - again - in your very busy schedule, to share the morning with us and welcome everyone to our amazing city. Mayor Vivian Flowers, City of Pine Bluff, whose day I am certain was just as busy...thank you so very much for spending part of your day with us, and introducing your friend, Phyllis Yvonne Stickney. To Lena Hayes, who welcomed us to the Clinton Presidential Center with the grace and wisdom that she always brings, we are so grateful for our long relationship and your endearing support. To Charles King, you were eloquent in your tribute to Mrs. Daisy Bates, as always. Thank you for sharing her story with us. And, to the CMP board, I am forever proud and grateful for your commitment to Celebrate! Maya Project.

Thank you, finally, to our sponsors, our friends, our supporters and to those who joined us for the very first time, this year. Unfortunately, it would take up a LOT of space to thank everyone. I will most certainly thank you personally... but please allow me to say thank you to the Arkansas Department of Heritage, and the Black History Commission for making the two performances of "Life Doesn't Frighten Me," a possibility, and the UA - Pulaski Tech: The Center for Humanities and Arts for serving as the Little Rock venue, and the City of Stamps and the Lafayette County School District for all their work to make the Metro Theater Company's visit to Maya Angelou's childhood home, a memorable one. And, to the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site for supporting us in the name of the Little Rock Nine, Daisy Bates and the children of Pulaski County.

Until next year, my friends. If there is a woman you'd like for us to consider for our 2027 Spirit of Maya Award, please share their name and any biographical information with us, at [email protected]

04/14/2026