We are Lucy Press, a Black Woman-owned and operated publisher built to support Black writers and disabled writers in telling their stories.
Our namesake Lucy Stokes was a poet, community activist, organizer, and co-founder of We Are Family Senior Outreach Network.
Not only was Lucy a tireless advocate for people, but the lion's share of her work was done as she lived with chronic illness and disability.
A loving mom and grandma, Lucy's legacy, lives on in the hearts, minds, and work of many.
We seek to honor her legacy in our work here, as well as to expand opportunities for Black, disabled, and other marginalized writers to tell their stories.
our team
Founder and Chief Creatrix:
Porscha Simmons
Porscha is a poet,essayist, and a proud native Washingtonian. She shares her thoughts on disability and chronic illness and their intersections with her creativity in the
Chronically Porscha newsletter.
Porscha has been a fellow of The Watering Hole Poetry as well as a two-time fellow at Hurston Wright.
Porscha has bylines in For Harriet, She Knows, Brit &Co and other publications.
Porscha’s work also appears in two anthology collections
Ask: Building Consent Culture and The Fire Inside volume II
Find out more about Porscha and her work at www.Porschawrites.com
Chief Operations Officer and Resident Aries:
Betty Coleman
Betty is an outgoing extrovert with a heart for people and a talent for helping organizations thrive!
Betty brings over thirty years of experience in finance, budgeting, business management and administrative support.
OUR NAMESAKE
Lucy Stokes (1937-2008) was a poet, community activist, organizer and advocated for underserved children in Washington, DC, before she turned her attention to the senior citizen population. Lucy worked tirelessly with and for seniors at Emmaus Services for the Aging, before retiring but maintaining an active volunteer relationship with the organization.
Over her years of advocacy, Lucy worked with Bread for the City, Empower DC, and Washington Inner City Self Help (WISH) as well as impacting several other local organizations and a new generation of advocates.
When Lucy wasn’t organizing and advocating, she enjoyed spending time with family and was close with her daughters and granddaughters. Lucy was also an established poet, copyrighting several volumes of poetry and appearing on WHUR’s evening poetry program.
Her love of literature, people, and heart of service inspire us to continue her legacy by opening avenues of publishing for underserved and historically underrepresented people in publishing.
Contact Information
hello@lucypress.com
@lucypress_dc
@lucypress_dc