Dr. C. Sade Turnipseed is an internationally acclaimed public historian who has been invited to speak and facilitate workshops in Ghana, China, Barbados, Norway, France, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Germany, Nigeria, and Morocco. Turnipseed was named the 2017 Mississippi Institute of Higher Learning’s (IHL) Educator of the Year and is also the proud recipient of a 2018 summer research grant to formally study America’s original “cotton kingdom,” the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, which result in a textbook and accompanying documentary entitled, “The Gullah Geechee: Making a Way Out of No Way.” Turnipseed recently released her first children’s novel, “LIL B: and his Tale of Survival,” and an anthology entitled, “Field Hollers and Freedom Songs.” Turnipseed is currently spearheading an anthology entitled, “Up from the Cotton Fields-Revisited” and serves as lead researcher in the development of the “International Cotton Pickers UNITE Movement and Historic Trail” project initiated by Khafre, Inc.
Turnipseed is the recipient of a US Congressional Honor by Congressman Bennie G Thompson, for her commitment to preserving the rich history and heritage of the Mississippi Delta, and the NAACP Youth Outreach and Cultural Learning Award. Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour selected Turnipseed to be one of three Fellows for the Delta Regional Authority’s Delta Leadership Institute.
Turnipseed served as the official Diaspora representative to the Pan African Film Festival, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (FESPACO) during the years 2003-2009. Dr. Turnipseed has sat on the Board of Directors for several organizations, including The Blues Foundation, Blues Society, the Mississippi Delta Arts Alliance, and, the National Association of Black Storytellers. Turnipseed is the recipient of numerous community services and arts advocacy awards for her volunteer efforts.
She is the Executive Director of Khafre Inc, a Mississippi Delta based non-profit whose mandate is to erect a monument and historical site in tribute to Cottonpickers of the American South, and the founder of the Sankofa Empowerment Initiative, an international student exchange project partnering with Historically Black Colleges and Universities-HBCU’s, FESPACO, and Nollywood.
