S. Dione Mitchell

Stacey D. Mitchell is a cisgender, Black woman, wife, mother, friend, learner, mourner and follower of Christ from the South Side of Chicago. Though Stacey has held a variety of jobs since the age of 14, her career began as a 6th grade Reading, Language Arts and Social Studies teacher, where she was the recipient of a variety of awards, most prominently when she was selected as Teacher of the Year by her peers. Since then, she has worked in service of marginalized communities and People development in her roles as the Vice President of People and Equity at Educators for Excellence; the head of the People department at the Obama Foundation and now as the Founder of SAGEli Consulting where she helps individuals and organizations realize their highest, most positive personal and social impact. Stacey is also a Surge alumni. She graduated with distinction from the University of Illinois, Urbana - Champaign, is fluent in Spanish and really enjoys long walks in scenic outdoor spaces, reading, writing, jumping double dutch, skating and spending time with her loved ones.

Articles:

Alone with the Memories: When Your Only Sibling Dies

Halloween When I was 9 and my sister was 12, we made the bold decision to craft The Haunted House of All Ages in our 250-square-foot living room and the 10-x-3.5-foot hallway that ran down the center of our second floor flat. It would be just for our own enjoyment: for us to build, experience and deconstruct in the sweet solace of flat and of our sisterhood. And we were democratic about the whole affair: She would adorn the front room with all manner of Halloween horror for me to walk through, and I the hallway for her. So we […]

Does It Matter That She’s Drunk? The Grief of Alcoholism

She’s Drunk “Wait! What am I supposed to be doing now?” from my mother during a board game. “So you don’t like gumbo?” […from my mother to a relative for the 10th time in the last 30 minutes] While solemn remarks are being shared about a matriarch of our family, an unsolicited and loud, “And you used to beat me!” […an untrue statement from the side of the stage in an effort to be funny, followed by uproarious laughter from her singularly.] Leaning over to pick up a Christmas gift from under the tree, down she crashed like a fallen […]

Parentlessness with Parents

The Realization I have 4 parents and yet most times, I feel parentless. The Story of My Parents The story of my parents began in the midst of two affairs that my mother and father had with each other; my mother having an affair outside of her marriage with the man I grew up knowing as Daddy; and my biological father having an affair outside of the marriage and family he’d built with his wife and three children. My biological father continued to raise his growing family, including a sibling my same age, a few short minutes away from where […]

The Invisibility of Grief

The Visibility of Change My children are tweens/teens. When I think about their development throughout the years, it is clear and tangible to me the ways in which they have changed. One year, they were two feet tall. In the next year or two, they may have grown a foot. One day they were not able to tie their shoes. The next they are. One moment, they weren’t able to pronounce a word or describe its meaning, the very next, they are. My children have changed profoundly since the days of their births. And I have borne witness to these […]

Evolving My Perspective on Grief

Making Sense of Grief At first, I thought grief was an amorphous vapor that made your breathing labored and that obscured your view…temporarily. But I was wrong. Losing My Grandmother In 2016, I lost by grandma, Theresa Potts, the foundation of my human constitution. As a co-parent with my mother, she reared, disciplined, corrected, directed, encouraged and guided me. But more than anything, she loved me with a depth and breadth that I have not known before or since. And on June 3, 2016, my mother’s birthday, life on this side slipped quietly from my grandma’s hands, drained from her […]

The Many Forms of Grief

Contextualizing Grief In my experiences, grief has been most commonly recognized with a major event: the loss of another human being. There seemed to be a framework for understanding the sorrow and longing that a person feels who lost their mother or husband or child or friend, and in some instances a pet. Though not for long enough, there seemed to be recognition that this could affect one’s mood, health and therefore their presence at work or participation in social activities. Expanding the Definition of Grief However, there seemed to be no real framework for understanding other, more common forms […]