Fran Kaplan

I tend to be a bit wordy, so to challenge myself, I once entered a national 6-word autobiography contest – and won 2nd Place! Here's the entry, all about me in short: "Many jobs, one thread: social justice." If you want more details, feel free to read on... I have been an educator, social worker, writer, translator, racial justice activist, and nurturer for nearly five decades. My work has included creating and running nonprofit and for profit organizations to address issues from women’s health and farmworker rights to nurturing parenting, early childhood education, and peace-building. I am also a published writer and producer of award-winning narrative short and feature films, including "Gettin' Grown," "Honey-Colored Boy" and "Service To Man." My filmmaker son, Aaron Greer, and I co-authored a screenplay, "Fruit of the Tree," about the life of lynching survivor James Cameron. The script has won awards in national and regional competitions and is currently seeking financing. As an international trainer-consultant for a global parenting education program, the Nurturing Program, I authored and co-produced the videos, books, and games for its Spanish-language version called "Crianza Con Cariño." Historian Dr. Robert S. Smith and I curated and edited "Lynching: An American Folkway," a digital transmedia anthology distributed by Biblioboard, Inc., which is available in libraries across the country. I currently serve as coordinator of America’s Black Holocaust Museum's online presence at www.abhmuseum.org, where I help curate the 2900+ exhibits covering 400 years of African American history. I also co-facilitate ABHM's film/dialogue series, in which we help Americans understand the past in order to heal the present. I feel privileged to have been able to do this kind of work for my entire life – and to have been recognized by various organizations in Milwaukee and Wisconsin for promoting racial justice and providing leadership in children’s and human rights. And, even better, to have been able to do this while taking part in the growing up of several wonderful young people as a mother, foster parent, and "bubbe" (grandma)!