Day in and day out, Minnesota-based radio host and podcaster Sheletta Brundidge uses her humor and heart to point our attention where it’s most needed.
Brundidge, an Emmy Award-winning comedian, is the mom of four children, three of whom have been diagnosed with autism. She uses her multimedia platform to share resources, raise awareness and engender humanity for all children, with particular attention to children with special needs.
She wasn’t always certain she was cut out for this work.
I heard God say, ‘I’m not giving you a punishment. I’m giving you a position. Your position is mother. You go mother your kids and when you’re done, get up and help someone else.’
“When not one, not two, but three of my children were diagnosed with autism I thought, ‘God is punishing me. I don’t know what I did to deserve this, but it must be really bad,’” Brundidge said. “But I heard God say, ‘I’m not giving you a punishment. I’m giving you a position. Your position is mother. You go mother your kids and when you’re done, get up and help someone else.’”
She began hosting workshops for parents whose children have autism, sharing and exchanging ideas and resources that don’t always originate from a doctor’s or therapist’s office.
“Everything I’ve learned about autism, I learned from another parent,” she said. “What is the best daycare for kids with autism? Who’s the best ABA (applied behavior analysis) therapist? What’s the best gymnastics class? What dance school has staff with some autism training? All that stuff I got from other parents. We’ve got to learn from each other. We’ve got to help each other.”
With the help and inspiration of her kids, Brundidge has written three children’s books: Daniel Finds His Voice; Cameron Goes to School; and, most recently, Brandon Spots His Sign. (All available on Amazon.)
After a white supremacist opened fire at a Tops grocery store in Buffalo, New York, on May 14, killing 10 people and injuring three, Brundidge began searching for ways to help the community—and the country—heal. She read a news story about Zeneta Everhart, whose son Zaire Goodman was injured in the shooting while working at Tops. Everheart put out a call for children’s books that address and combat racism to distribute around Buffalo, and Brundidge answered—collecting and shipping more than 1,000 books (hers, plus copies of Crown Shepherd’s Black Boy, Black Boy and Black Girl, Black Girl) to Buffalo.
“I want the children in Buffalo to know somebody outside their community cares about them,” Brundidge said. “That we love them and we value them enough to send them a little piece of us. Every person in that community has been touched by that shooting and I don’t want them to think they are hurting or grieving alone. I want them to know there’s love inside that book from Minnesota.”