Jerome Saintjones is a native of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where he grew up on Stillman Hill and first began his life of “paid” work solely for African-American entities. As a child, he helped to clean St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church on weekends. In junior high, he served as Student Government Association president and worked for Ida Glenn, a noted black piano teacher and graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. In high school, he participated in various organizations and worked afterschool for Stillman College as a dishwasher. Following his graduation from Tuskegee University, with the approval of Dr. Velma Blackwell, he worked in public relations at his Alma Mater for 10 years and earned the master’s from Auburn University, followed by a year as assistant to the chairman (Frank H. Lee) of the Macon County Commission and then public relations specialist for the Southeast Alabama Sickle Cell Association, under the legendary Rosa T. Storrs. He was hired by Dr. Jeanette Jones as director of public relations at Alabama A&M University in 1992 and worked at that HBCU for 32 years, serving under seven administrators. In this capacity, Saintjones wrote thousands of articles, edited and designed numerous publications and even doubled as university photographer. His poetic talents span the penning of Tuskegee’s Centennial Poem (1981) and the more recent writing of the school song (arranged by Andrea Bradford) for HBCU Drake State Community and Technical College in Huntsville, Alabama, under the dynamic administration of Dr. Patricia Sims. Saintjones has served since 2014 as the Senior Editor of The Valley Weekly (valleyweeklyllc.com), a popular online publication launched by longtime friend Dorothy W. Huston. The avid Episcopalian and his wife Marilyn Orange of Los Angeles (who served briefly as secretary for civil rights icon and lawyer Fred D. Gray) have one daughter Morgan, a doctoral student and administrator for a local nonprofit.