Contribute to autobiography by Bertha Renter Harris, Shreveport, by making pledge at Kickstarter.com

Bertha Renter Harris, Shreveport, a photo by trudeau on Flickr.

"I am a 72 year-old folk artist and recently completed the first revised draft of my autobiography," says Bertha R Harris at Kickstarter.com.

"I did not seriously undertake art until after I turned 65. The public reception to my art has been both gratifying and inspirational. However I feel I still have a great deal to offer not just in art but the story of my life.

In our small section of the agricultural south where I was raised, conditions had not changed much since the end of the Civil War. Tenant farmers and black farm families were practically owned by the family plantations where they worked. Escape from this bonded servitude was exactly that. Many families were always in debt to the plantation store or the owner.

My family was unique in that my grandparents family owned their own land, BUT, it did not make us exempt from conditions of those around us.

My struggles to advance in a world over which I felt I had little control were against forces of bigotry, sexual discrimination and harassment.

Not only have I survived, I have blossomed as an artist with an understanding of my responsibility to help others who continue in bondage.

In the fall of 2011 I received my first true recognition on a broader stage for my artwork. I received one of the major awards at the Red River Revel and sold my first large painting."

With Kickstarter contributions Harris will edit and publish her autobiogaphy. See more here.