History: Storytelling & Scholarship Featuring Satori Shakoor, Suzanne Munson and Karen Cox

Suzanne has written books, three published and four on the way, in a variety of genres: fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.
She has the unusual distinction of being an author of "traditional history" as well as a pioneer in a new genre, "metaphysical history." She has written a well-regarded book of traditional history, "Jefferson's Godfather: The Man Behind the Man," a biography of Thomas Jefferson's influential mentor George Wythe, signer of the Declaration of Independence, America's first professor of law, senior statesman, and model for the ethical Servant Leader. Soon to be published is a related book, "First in Law, First in Leadership: The College of William & Mary."
More recently, she boldly explored what Jefferson might have to say to us from his current place in spirit, in the book "The Metaphysical Thomas Jefferson." This premiered on Amazon as the Number One New Release in Political Commentary. Her next books in this genre: "The Metaphysical Leonard Cohen: The Last Interview" and "The Metaphysical Van Gogh."
Her latest book, "Of Loss and Love: A Journey of the Heart," takes an entirely new turn. This is a series of reflections that she began after the loss of her husband several years ago. The book's beautiful passages offer insights on dealing with grief, learning to live mindfully, and searching for the love of a new partner later in life.

Karen L. Cox is a professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, an award-winning historian, and a Distinguished Lecturer for the Organization of American Historians. She is the author of four books and the editor or co-editor of two volumes on southern history. Her books include Dixie’s Daughters: The United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Preservation of Confederate Culture, Dreaming of Dixie: How the South Was Created in American Popular Culture, Goat Castle: A True Story of Murder, Race, and the Gothic South, and most recently, No Common Ground: Confederate Monuments and the Ongoing Fight for Racial Justice. She has an essay in the NYT bestseller Myth America: Historians Take on the Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past.

Dr. Cox has written op-eds for the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, TIME magazine, Publishers Weekly, Smithsonian Magazine, and the Huffington Post. She has given dozens of media interviews in the U.S. and around the world, especially on the topic of Confederate monuments. She appeared in Henry Louis Gates’s PBS documentary Reconstruction: America after the Civil War, Lucy Worsley’s American History’s Biggest Fibs for the BBC, and the Emmy-nominated documentary The Neutral Ground, which examines the underlying history of Confederate monuments through the lens of monument removal in New Orleans. Her current book in progress explores the Rhythm Club fire, a tragedy that took the lives of more than 200 African Americans in Natchez, Mississippi, in 1940. When it happened, it was the deadliest club fire i… Read More

Satori Shakoor is a storyteller, an artist, social entrepreneur and a 2017 Kresge Literary Arts Fellow. Satori received early recognition as a background singer/recording artist when she toured with George Clinton, Parliament/Funkadelic as one of the Brides of Funkenstein. She expanded her performance career to include actor, comedienne, and television comedy writer. Satori was the catalyst and a founding member of the award-winning Obsidian Theatre Company in Toronto. Founded in 1999, Obsidian Theatre has become Canada’s leading culturally diverse theatre company. In 2011, Satori began her professional career as a storyteller touring the country as a Moth main stage storyteller and host. She has told stories globally on many stages and storytelling platforms, PBS, NPR and podcasts. Satori hosts the Twisted Storytellers podcast produced by WDET Radio, Detroit Performs Live at Marygrove produced by Detroit Public Television on PBS.
Satori is the Executive Producer for the award-winning The Secret Society Of Twisted Storytellers®which she founded in July 2012 in Detroit. TSSOTS has a global mission to connect humanity, heal and transform community and to provide an uplifting, thought- provoking, soul-cleansing entertainment experience through the art and craft of storytelling. Satori is the Executive Director for The Society for the Re-Institutionalization of Storytelling, a Michigan 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization. The Secret Society Of Twisted Storytellers partners with businesses, corporations, educational institutions, and faith-based organizations to produce a… Read More