Dear Mama: Lessons on Race, Grace and the Wisdom To Overcome

Shawn Schwaner was born on January 21, 1966 to a single mother, Susan Schwaner, in Toledo, Ohio. Alone and poor, Shawn’s mother was facing a crossroads when the incredible Bertha Lee Green (Mama) stepped into Susan’s life and offered to raise her unborn child. Through numerous trials, tribulations, and personal challenges, Shawn earned a high school degree from the prestigious Maumee Valley Country Day School which would change his life trajectory and allow him to climb to the highest of academic heights. After graduating from Denison University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology/Anthropology and then a Master’s and Doctorate from The Ohio State University, he went on to earn numerous teaching and civil service awards as a college professor at the University of Louisville, Sullivan University, and Miami Dade College (among many). He has shaped and molded the lives of nearly 10,000 students in his career with his unorthodox and creative writing intensive teaching style and continues to leave an impact that reflects the lessons on race, grace, and the wisdom to overcome as learned from his life with Mama.