Meet Kimberly C. Harper | Assoicate Professor of English, Quilt Enthusiast, and Reproductive Justice Advocate

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kimberly C. Harper and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kimberly C., is there a quote or affirmation that’s meaningful to you?
Confidence is part of owning who you are, and not apologizing for it. This quote is important to me because it reminds me that not apologizing for who I am when I show in a space is at the core of creating change. Often women, minorities, and folks from marginalized groups navigate spaces that demand they apologize before they even enter the door, or explain why they are in the room. So this quote helps me to remeber that I don’t owe anyone an apology for who I am and why I’m here.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I started out sewing masks during the pandemic thanks to my daughter. I then moved on to quilting and it has become a passion outside of teaching. During the pandemic I found peace in the practice because there were so many things I could not control….so the creative process was really theraputic. It was a lot of trail and error and tears, but I found some really good craft influencers to follow. After my confidence grew, I began to give my quilts away to loved ones, and felt like I could really start to see myself as a fiber artist.

I wouldn’t call myself a traditional quilter in that I dont belong to a guild and I dont follow patterns often. I like to use African print (Ankara) fabric to make my quilts and so thats a big part of my brand. I’m not interested in perfection, rather I’m interesed in the process of letting the fabric tell me where to place it.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Hum. There’s a lot to do in Greensboro. I would start with brunch at either Dame’s Chicken and Waffles or just do lunch at Liberty Oak. We would hang out downtown G’boro and ride the trolly and then chill at Center City Park and visit some of the stuff in the cultural arts center. Walk around and visit all the local shops. Then we would get dessert from Savor the Moment Cafe or get coffee from Northern Roots.

After we finished doing dowtonw Greensboro, we would grab a burger from Nazareth or Sushi from Imperial Koi and finish the evening. That’s just one day right….so really I would make sure we went to A&T to visit the A&T four statue and go to the new student center. Then we would definately visit some of the local mosques so we could pray in congregation. Although my knees would probably give out the next day, I would want to go roller skating at US skate and eat some soul food at Ben’s Boys. Oh..and I love tea so I would take them to Vida Pour Tea. And if they were up for it, I would love to see a show at Tanger Center. They have a lot of good shows that come to the area..and if it was the summer we would probably go downtown to LeBauer park for the movie in the park.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I dedicate this shoutout to my daughter Naeemah Khalfani. She’s the reason why I started sewing. During Covid-19 she watched a Youtube video to learn how to make masks and then showed me, and then I discovered this whole world of sewist on the internet and my love for the art of quilting blossmed into this great thing. I also want to shout out my friend Lisa DeVries who kindly accepted one of my first quilts that was also kinda jacked up….but she hung it anyway and that gave me the encoruagement to keep going. The fact that she loved it and hung it in her home despite the mistake really gave me such a joy.

Website: http://www.drkimberlycharper.com/

Instagram: @nuttyprofessor1891