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Publications

Articles & Essays

"SEL in History Class: Social and Emotional Learning in Context" by Terrence McAllister & Sonny Kelly in The Journal of Social & Emotional Learning (February 2022, Vol. 3, Issue 8) [PDF AVAILBLE HERE, page 10]

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Kelly, Sonny (2019). “The Talk: Crucial Conversations for Contemporary Kids of Color in the New South.” Southern Cultures, 25(3) (pp. 76-89). [PDF AVAILABLE HERE]

Books & Chapters

The My Life Matters Project: Poetically Reframing & Reclaiming Our Lives! by Sonny Kelly & the MLM Poets (2022)

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Pipelines to Pathways: Reframing and Reclaiming Black Youth Identities through Performance (Dissertation by Sonny Kelly, 2020, UNC Chapel Hill Graduate School)

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“All Things Work Together” in Be Encouraged by Black Men (Ed. Jerrica Stovall) (2020)

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Kelly, S. (2019). “Mike Wiley is A Multi-Faceted Artist on a Mission for Social Change.” In Kathy A. Perkins, Sandra L. Richards, Renée Alexander Craft, and Thomas F. DeFrantz, (Eds.). The Routledge Companion to African American Theatre and Performance. (pp. 299-302). New York, NY: Routledge.

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Presentations

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

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"The U.S. Colored Soldiers" Athens Chautauqua Society                                       2023

"Youth Self-Expression Workshop" Athens Chautauqua Society                          2023

:Storytelling for Community Building," Junior League of NC Conference            2022

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"Personally Connected Pedagogy," National Institute for Staff and                     2021

Organizational Development (NISOD), North Carolina Community College

System (NCCCS); First Generation Symposium, &The  Rowan-Cabarrus

Community College Growth, Understanding, Inclusion, Diversity, & Equity 

(G.U.I.D.E.) Conference

 

"Meeting Students Where They Are" (panelist), Carolina Communication            2021

Association 

 

"1770 to 2020: Race, Revolt & Resistance," Carolina K-12                                         2020

 

"Storytelling for Resilience," Franklin County Schools, NC                                        2020

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"Storytelling for Social Impact, Assoc. of Maternal & Child Health Programs        2019

 

"Autoethnographic Engagements: Surviving with/in Scholarship (panelist), NCA 2019, 

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“Addressing Educational Disparity with Digital Technology Distribution,”              2019

National Communication Association Annual (NCA) Annual Convention

 

“A Critical Race Theory Approach to Interpersonal Communication,”                     2019

National Communication Association (NCA) Annual Convention

*Top Student Paper Award

 

“Autoethnographic Engagements: Surviving with/in Scholarship” (panelist),          2019

National Communication (NCA) Association Annual Convention

 

“Performatively Unpacking the Race Talk”

  • We Are Annual Let’s Talk Racism Conference, Durham, NC                                2019

  • Black Communities Conference, Durham, NC                                                       2019

  • Free Speech Conference: Finding Expression in Contested Public                    2019

Spaces, UNC Greensboro

 

“The Talk” 

  • National Communication Association (NCA) Annual Convention                      2018

  • ACCelerate Conference, on behalf of Innovate Carolina, Washington D.C.      2018

 

“Trauma-Informed Performance-Based Intervention for Marginalized Youth,”     2018

National Communication Association (NCA) Annual Convention

 

“Aspiring Beyond the Achievement Gap: An Analytic Transformation in                2018    

Education,” National Communication Association (NCA) Annual Convention

*Top Paper Award

 

“Reframing ‘The Talk’: Aesthetics of Resisting Negative Biotropes of Black             2018

Youth,” National Communication Association (NCA) Annual Convention

 

“Pipelines to Pathways:  Empowering Marginalized Youth of Color Through         2018

Embodied Performance,” Black Communities Conference, Durham, NC

 

INVITED PRESENTATIONS

 

Institute for Personally Connected Pedagogy, FTCC                                                   2021-2022

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The Power of Words Storytelling Workshop

  • Assoc. of Maternal and Child Health Title V Programs, Washington, D.C.         2019

  • UNC Chapel Hill Maternal and Child Health Center                                              2019

  • Action Pathways Second Harvest Food Bank Partner Training                           2015

 

The Talk, one-man show written and directed by Sonny Kelly

  • Syracuse University                                                                                                    2020

  • Fayetteville State University’s Fine Arts Series                                                       2020

  • African American Heritage Society, Pensacola, FL                                                2019

  • Carolina Public Humanities, K-12, Chapel Hill, NC                                                2019

  • USA Transactional Analysis Association 50th International                                2019

        Conference, “Promoting Equality and OKness: Healing the

        Divisions in Our World,” Raleigh, NC

  • StreetSigns Center for Literature and Performance and Bulldog                      2019

       Ensemble Theater, Chapel Hill and Durham, NC

 

“Talking The Talk: A Performance-Centered Approach to Diversity and Inclusion”

  • Carolina Public Humanities, K-12                                                                            2019

  • Kenan Flagler School of Business, UNC Chapel Hill                                             2019   

 

“From Sidekicks to Superheroes: The Importance of Positive Black                        2018

Protagonists in the Development of Self-Concept for Youth of Color,”

NC State University’s African American Cultural Center

 

“Winning the Dope Game:  A Youth Workers’ Guide to Combating the Draw of   2015

Sex, Drugs and Technology Among Teens,” North Carolina Juvenile Services

Agency Conference, Carolina Beach, NC

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Team building workshop with the U.S. Military on December 12, 2022.

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