Jackie Joice

Green Grapes Black Hands was inspired by her paternal grandfather's journey from Teneha, Texas to Selma, Ca in 1942. He bought his first harmonica in Texas for $.025. Her grandfather lived in the tent cities depicted in the classic movie "The Grapes of Wrath" directed by John Ford and based on the novel written by John Steinbeck. Her grandfather also lived in the first black settlement in California which was Allensworth. Joice's grandfather is still alive at the ripe age of 93. Green Grapes Black Hands is also inspired by her maternal great grandfather William Joseph Harden who arrived in California in the early 1900s. Harden started the first and only zoo in Hanford, CA. He also served 14 years in the U.S military. Harden was a Spanish American War veteran and was a member of the 1st US Volunteer Calvary known as the Rough Riders. He was recruited by Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt and commanded by Colonel Leonard Wood. He was also apart of Roosevelt's 71st New York Regiment. He served in the 48th Volunteer and 9th Calvary in Cuba and Phillippines ( Buffalo Soldiers). Harden was in France with the 52nd Division during the first World War. Joice began her research on Harden in 1993. William Joseph Harden was born in Atlanta, Georgia on February 9, 1874 and died in Central California on February 14, 1973. This work emerged from the stories,songs, and sayings of her great grandparents, her grandparents, her parents, especially her mother, aunts and great aunts, uncles and great uncles. Lastly, Green Grapes Black Hands is Joice's wrath but also a glimpse into Joice's character and politics.

Jackie Joice writes fiction , non-fiction and is also a spoken word poet and photographer. Her fiction and poetry incorporate her Catholic upbringing which has spawned into a hybridization of religious, witty and provocative writing. She has traveled to Cuba to study African-based religions in Habana and Santiago. She has also visited Ghana, West Africa and observed initiation rituals and interviewed practitioners of tradition based beliefs. In 2004, an excerpt of Joice's erotica novella "Fragaria" written under the moniker "Juniper Sanchez" was examined and discussed by her peers in the prestigious Hurston/Wright Writer's Week at Howard University in Washington, DC. Joice's photography reflects her style of writing and her photography. Her photographs taken in the city of Juarez were featured in the Badlands literary journal of California State University San Bernardino (Palm Desert Campus) in the Fall 2011 issue. Joice's essay and poem about her visit to Juarez was published in Shout Out: Women of Color Respond to Violence (Seal Press 2008). She has two researched entries in the The Women's Encyclopedia of Third Wave Feminism ( Greenwood Press, 2005). Joice's novel Kanika's Burdens was published in 2012. Her poetry was recently included in the literary journal Song of The San Joaquin ( 2013) and The Lummox Journal ( 2012). Joice was a featured poet at Cal State San Bernardino's "Take Back The Night" event and UnSilence Autism ( 2013). She has several articles in Loudmouth Magazine ( a feminist magazine based at Cal State University Los Angeles.