About Jewel
jewelallison.com
Official Website
All rights reserved Jewel Allison 2015
Jewel Allison is an
American with deep
Barbadian roots, on a
mission to make life
easier for Barbadians
and other Caribbean
people.
Join me on
Jewel Allison, poet, public speaker, activist, actress
Jewel Allison is a fresh new voice exploding in the poetry
and public speaking arenas; soon to be as well known as
Nikki Giovanni and Maya Angelou No one talks about such
sensitive issues as civil rights, diversity and world peace
with the joy and optimism as Jewel. The Amsterdam News
said “Jewel Is A Gem” and Caribbean Life refers to Ms.
Allison’s poetry as “Powerful”. She is an author, actress,
public speaker, poet/spoken word artist, former model and
activist.
Ms. Allison was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York
from an American mother and a Barbadian father and is
affectionately rooted to the Caribbean ; as illustrated in her work. She began writing poetry
at an early age; in fact, Jewel cannot recall a time during her life when she was not writing
poetry. She states, “Poetry came to me first and then I came to it!” Jewel mentions it that
way because she began writing as a child and later, came to know why poetry was an art
form different from other types of writing. As a small child she taught herself how to write in
the dark; as her inspirations often came very late at night and she tried very hard not to
wake her sister; with whom she shared a bedroom. Throughout her many endeavors in the
art’s world, Jewel continued writing but kept it a secret until she came forward with her
critically acclaimed book entitled ‘Stealing Peace”. Her studies of African and world history
began as a teenager while studying with the Late Great Dr. John Henrik Clarke and famed
scholar and historian affectionately known as “Dr. Ben”.
At the tender age of 17, Jewel met Harriet Caine, a beauty editor at Mademoiselle
Magazine. It became an event that would change her life forever. Jewel began modeling for
Zoli, a prestigious New York City modeling agency as she graced the pages of
Mademoiselle , Essence and Ebony magazines; just to name a few; as well as appearing as
a model on the Regis and Kathy Lee Show on ABC-TV. She was one of the first Black
models to be considered for a cover for Mademoiselle magazine. As an actress Ms. Allison
has appeared on several commercials, appeared in “Boomerang” with Eddie Murphy, and
“Mr. Big Stuff” music video with Rapper Heavy D. She is an active member of the Screen
Actors Guild and has worked as a voice over artist as well
The Cave Hill
Campus of the
University of the
West Indies on
Wednesday played
host to actress,
former model and
poet/spoken word
artiste Jewel Allison
at the University
Bookshop.