Martha R. Bireda, Ph.D., is a writer, lecturer, and living history performer. She has over 30 years of experience as a lecturer, consultant and trainer for issues related to race, class, and gender issues, working with educators, law enforcement, and business, and civic leaders. Currently, Dr. Bireda is a writer, lecturer, and living history performer.

Dr. Bireda sees her mission in this life as that of a healer. She began her professional career as a speech and hearing therapist, then became a counselor to help individuals heal emotional wounds. She created her own company, Diversity Training Associates, to help prevent and heal wounds resulting from cultural insensitivity and racism.

Dr. Bireda believes firmly that sharing “untold and untaught “ accurate history can heal racial and cultural differences. Refuting the historical narratives based upon mythology and untruths that dehumanize and separate people, and presenting the truth of history can bring people together.

In today’s current world, where oppression and genocide against those considered to be less than human are pervasive, true history, rather than culturally conditioned historical narrative, is crucial. Dr. Bireda facilitates six-week conversations, “Healing Conversations on Race”, focusing on participants experiencing and expressing “human completeness “, empathy, and the release of mythical concepts about one’s own and the racial identity of “the other”.

Dr. Bireda is the author of over 12 non-fiction books, her two latest, A Time for Change: How White Supremacy Ideology Harms All Americans, released in June 2021, and The Promise of Whiteness: Its Past and Its Future, released on September 14, 2022, both books were written during the COVID 19 pandemic and published by Rowman and Littlefield. She has written two books for youth readers, Obi: African Seminole Freedom Fighter and The Trabue Woods Book of Values.

Dr. Bireda is also the author of historical fiction books for adults, The Womb Rebellion which tells the story of enslaved women who refused to engage in the process of slave-breeding. Her second historical fiction book, My Brother’s Keeper tells the story of the numbers racket and its positive influence on the African American community during the Jim Crow Era.

She has written two books for youth readers, Obi: African Seminole Freedom Fighter and The Trabue Woods Book of Values. Dr. Bireda believes that “ history can heal” and has developed a youth empowerment program based upon Obi: African Seminole Freedom Fighter. She encourages teachers, parents, and mentors to have students whose well-being and self-esteem have been negatively impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic to engage students in this empowerment process. The website is The New Image Youth Empowerment Program.com. Dr. Bireda has a site on Facebook and Twitter.

As one who has counseled and wrote her first book about overcoming codependency (Love Addiction: A Guide to Emotional Independence), and has facilitated women’s empowerment issues, she is deeply concerned about the recent U.S. Supreme court decision overturning Roe v Wade and will be writing about issues related to “pro-life” as it concerns the born children who experience poverty, homelessness, and marginalization in our schools and justice system.

Dr. Bireda’s most recent book, Reflections of a Colored Girl, was made into a documentary by PBS. In this book, she shares the lessons learned from family, community, and school that shaped her life and empowered her during the Jim Crow era. Dr. Bireda firmly believes that the lessons she learned related to one’s true identity, purpose, and interconnectedness in community (Ubuntu) are much needed today to prevent the sense of victimhood experienced by many youth and adults of color. Her most recent mission as a healer is to help heal these wounds by transmitting these traditional values through her “Remember and Return “ storytelling as an elder.

Dr. Bireda’s favorite pastimes are travel and engaging in cultural adventures. Her favorite places to visit are Cuba, Palau, Singapore, and Thailand.

Dr.Bireda is the Director of the Blanchard House Museum of African American History and Culture of Charlotte County, located in Punta Gorda, Florida. Learn more about the museum: https://www.theblanchardhouse.org You may contact Dr. Bireda at email: blanchardhouse1925@gmail.com