Ms. Nique Wants to Bring Empowering the Pen Back Home to Minnesota
Editor Jasmine McBride reports on Monique Crusoe-Cheeks, who goes by Ms. Nique, a mother of 10 who spent 16 years in Minnesota and now lives in the Dallas area. Dwight Hobbes once reviewed her memoir for the Spokesman-Recorder. She has since written 14 books and was named SITI Women of Prestige’s 2026-27 Author of the Year. Her program, Empowering the Pen, works like a paint-and-sip night with writing in place of painting. It comes in three versions: Signature, After Dark and Unfiltered. She has signed three contracts with Dallas-area cities and says she has contacted Minnesota organizations about bringing the program here. She is also writing “Crown Work,” a book for men.
Years after Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder contributor Dwight Hobbes reviewed her memoir, Monique Crusoe-Cheeks, who goes by Ms. Nique, is back in touch with the paper and with a new chapter to share. The poet and author has created Empowering the Pen, an interactive writing experience for people who have never thought of themselves as writers, and she says she plans to bring it to Minnesota.
Ms. Nique, a mother of 10, nine of them boys, is originally from Chicago and spent 16 years in Minnesota. She now lives in the Dallas area. “Minnesota’s still home,” she said. “My mom and everybody’s still there.”
Hobbes reviewed her memoir, “If My Past Wasn’t So Dark, My Future Wouldn’t Shine So Bright.” Since then, she said, she has become an award-winning author of 14 books, a motivational speaker and what she calls a “transformation coach.” SITI Women of Prestige named her its 2026-27 Author of the Year.
“I went from a woman who was simply trying to find her voice through writing to becoming an award-winning author,” she said. “My work has evolved beyond simply sharing my own story. I’m now helping other people find the courage to share theirs.”
Ms. Nique is careful about the word. Empowering the Pen is not a class, she said, because she is not teaching anyone to write.
“There’s no judgment, there’s no grammar police, there’s no pressure for you to tell your story a certain way,” she said. “You don’t have to be a writer. You don’t have to know how to even form a sentence.”
She likens it to a paint-and-sip night, with writing in place of painting. “The book and the pen are their canvas,” she said. She stands in front of the room, brings music and snacks, and gives every participant a complimentary journal and pen. Participants can pass on any prompt and are not required to share.
There are three versions, each tied to its own journal:
- Signature uses an 8.5-by-11-inch journal with prompts already written in. It usually runs over several days or once a week for four weeks, and participants can work through the book at their own pace.
- After Dark uses a 6-by-9-inch journal with no prompts. Facilitated sessions use prompt cards in categories such as “Don’t Lie Now,” “Say What,” “Quick Hit,” “Art Check” and “Go Deeper.”
- Unfiltered is aimed at younger participants, though anyone can use it, and also uses prompt cards, with categories such as “Plot Twists,” “Keep It 100” and “See It With Your Chest.”
Ms. Nique said the sessions are not only about trauma. Sometimes, she said, they are about “rediscovering your dreams, celebrating yourself, recognizing your strengths.”
“For me, writing became a place where I could completely live honestly without fear or judgment,” she said. “I could put things on paper that I wasn’t necessarily ready to say out loud.”
Asked when she realized she had moved from surviving to building something, she said there was no single moment. It came when people began telling her they related to her story, and some shared things they had never told anyone.
“I realized that my vulnerability wasn’t weakness,” she said. “I realized that I couldn’t change what happened to me, but I could absolutely be the thing that changed what happened to people moving forward.”
She said vulnerability is her “superpower” and that she wants to create spaces where people feel “seen, heard and empowered.”
Ms. Nique said she has held a family “think tank” session and was preparing to lead her first senior-community session the next day, with a group she knew from earlier work. She said she has signed three contracts with cities in the Dallas area to bring Empowering the Pen to residents. She declined to name them.
She said she has also contacted Minnesota organizations. Twice she was a keynote speaker for the group once called the Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women, which she said has since changed its name. She said the organization asked to share her information with its network of about 90 other groups, and she gave permission. She hopes to bring the program to Minnesota soon.
Her writing continues alongside the program. She has published a five-book trauma healing series, The Butterfly Healing Effect, available on Amazon: “Bruised But Not Broken,” “Secret Silent Battles,” “Chains We Can’t See,” “Just Let Me Heal” and “Love Without Scars.” She is now writing “Crown Work,” a book for men that she describes as giving them “permission to be human.” Leaders of boys’ organizations in the Dallas area have already asked for copies, she said.
For more Information about Empowering the Pen and Ms. Nique’s books are available at www.empoweringthepen.com/.
Jasmine McBride welcomes reader responses at jmcbride@spokesman-recorder.