A word to the wise: Don't ever tell Annie Ruth she can't do something.

        “If you tell me no, I'm going to work twice as hard to get it done. And I will get it done. I know because I've done it before.”

Annie Ruth teaches a poetry class at Mount Healthy High School (Steven M. Herppich photo) | ZOOM |

        No kidding. Annie Ruth, 38, artist, poet, teacher, mentor, 1999 Enquirer Woman of the Year and Post-Corbett award winner, wife, mother, Roselawn community activist and motivational speaker is one mighty determined woman.

        Witness: “When I wrote my first book, 16 pages of poetry called I Am Aware, I took it to my mentor and she said don't bother. You can't get it published.

        “So I worked extra hard, saved money and self-published it. Then I sold it door-to-door to prove her wrong. I had, and still have, that much confidence in my work.”

        It wasn't always this way for Annie Ruth Napier (most people don't know that's her last name because she's just, well, Annie Ruth to most everyone).

        “When I was young, I didn't feel good about being a black woman. My father left when I was in the third grade. I didn't realize then, but he was an alcoholic.

        “All my life until then, I heard him say, "I don't like white people.' But he left us for a white woman. He left us hungry, with no money for rent or gas and electric while he sat in bars with her, supporting her and her children.

        “This gave my self-esteem a horrible blow. It said to me, black children aren't good enough.'

        “I was raised by my mother, and she did her best, but she suffered from mental illness. Back then, we called them nervous breakdowns, but it was true mental illness.

        “In the seventh grade, my older sister and I were split up. I went with my dad in Atlanta, where I took out my anger belting softballs. I lived with him a year, then ran away and came back to my mom's house.

        “I came back an adult because I understood my mom couldn't handle two teen-agers. Sometimes Mom couldn't handle even the simple things like writing a check or buying milk.

        “I grew up very fast.”

        Also very determined, very confident, and very open.

        Two things brought that about.

        “In my senior year at Aiken, I had an art teacher from Kentucky who had very limited exposure to black culture. He sometimes made unintentional remarks that made the other students think he was racist. I questioned that. I wondered, if he was a racist, would he work so hard to educate me to the best of his ability? Of course not.

        “I learned from that that what divides us in this city is a lack of exposure to each other. I'm determined to change that.”

        The other thing that happened was an elderly neighbor. “As I said, I didn't feel good about being a black woman. But every day, she would say, "Annie Ruth, you're such a beautiful woman. Such pretty skin and so smart and talented.

        “She taught me how to love myself by convincing me I had something to offer.”

        Something to offer indeed. First off, there's her day job as president of Annie Ruth Creations, the firm that sells her original art, posters, greeting cards and poetry books as it manages her busy schedule of lectures and workshops on unity, diversity and fine arts.

        Then there's her volunteer schedule working with writing students, mentoring kids, working with Pro-Kids and, sometimes, packing up paints and teaching art classes for all ages — K through geriatric, she calls it — using art to teach self-improvement.

        If she ever had any doubt about the power of art to improve the self, it evaporated when she was teaching an art class to early- stage Alzheimer patients, using visual arts to recapture memory.

        “This lady did a beautiful painting and talked to me about it. She remembered her early art classes and how she'd use color. She remembered everything while she was painting.

        “A week later, she had no memory of even doing the painting, but it brought home to me how art is a powerful universal language that really can help people.”

        The other “powerful universal language” she's deeply committed to is Sisterhood. It was the topic of her workshop last week at Cincinnati's Speaking of Women's Health. It's the topic of dozens of her poems. It's the topic of her upcoming spoken word CD Soul of a Sister.

        “For me, sisterhood is essential to women's health, for the physical, psychological and spiritual wellness of women. Having a wide range of sisterhood relationships is like having a variety of essential vitamins.

        “That's not something I'm pushing, it's something I'm living. It has become second nature.

        “A lot of people don't realize that March is Women's History Month, and even when they do, they don't always realize that it's the positive women in your life, not always the famous ones, who help you along.

        “I can communicate that by talking about the positive ones in my life and making them think about the positive ones in their lives. Like that older woman who helped me so much. She is women's history.”

        So is her mother, and Annie Ruth is proud of it. “She's better now, and we're so close. I got teased a lot growing up. You know, kids saying "your crazy mom.' But she was one crazy mom who loved her girls. And she was one crazy mom who taught me a lifelong lesson: Whatever it is, you can do it.”

        Which is why you shouldn't tell Annie Ruth she can't. She likes to prove people wrong.

        Annie Ruth's Soul of a Sister CD ($15) will be released April 14 at an open-to-the-public CD celebration 3-5 p.m. at the African-American Museum at Union Terminal. For information on projects and to view or purchase books or artworks, go to www.annieruth.com.

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