The Rockdale Reporter’s popular and well-received 43-year Black History Series did not die when revered author Susie Sansom-Piper died in October 2019.
Tamara Powell, Piper’s granddaughter, has agreed to write a series for 2021.
The first installment will be published next week and will continue throughout the four issues dated for February, Black History Month.
Piper’s many series for The Reporter included “Way Back When,” “Ebony Etchings,” “Just Folks” and “On the Other Side of the Tracks.” She also authored many books.
Powell is a native of Rockdale and is a 1982 honors graduate of Rockdale High School.
She won numerous awards in science and academics while in the Rockdale ISD.
Powell was the first African American editor of the Lair, the Rockdale ISD yearbook, as well as the first winner of regional science fairs for Rockdale during her school years.
She attended the University of Texas on a Texas Achievement Award Scholarship, and Huston Tillotson College receiving the Welch Science Foundation stipend for medical research (Invitro-Fertilization).
Powell graduated with a bachelor of science degree in English and chemistry with specific course work in organizational communication.
She also holds a master of science degree in oriental medicine and herbology. She also owns an acupuncture clinic, Acufit-Capital City Wellness, in the Austin area.
Powell went on to an executive level career in the private sector and government where she has utilized her speaking, writing and problem-solving skills to implement new initiatives and deliver high profile projects.
Her latest project includes “When a Loved One Dies, (Principles for Steering through Grief)” (available from her or on Amazon. com and BN.com).
She is also completing the upcoming memoirs of her grandmother, “Seventeen Years in the Black Room (Bridging the gap from Integration)” due out this year.
Powell is the mother of one daughter, Brittany, a registered nurse, and two granddaughters, Kianna and Brianna.
She currently resides in Round Rock with her husband, Marcus.
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