“…and the flip of that is, it doesn’t matter if you had the receipt from Barney’s sewn into the bag. People gon’ assume it’s fake. Only you know the truth. So what are you, man? Are you a real or you a fake?…”
– From Dope (2015)
CKZ Shareef is a reader, writer, thinker, and occassional photographer. She is intrigued by perception — and the lack of control any one person has in influencing another’s. Because she can’t control what another considers truth, CKZ often questions her own reality and identity. She seeks to gain a better understanding of herself, the world around her, and how she and the world around her react to each other to create the stories that make up Life.
CKZ has a bachelor’s in Print Journalism with a minor in Afro American Studies from Howard University. She also received her M.F.A. in Creative Writing Fiction from Columbia College Chicago.
CKZ currently resides in Louisville, Kentucky with her musically inclined husband and their precocious cat Sheba. When she isn’t slaving at the job that pays the bills, you might find her in a Border’s, on the Waterfront, or at a restuarant becoming reacquainted with her hometown and reconsidering what she knows to be truth.
Inside the Ink 