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• Participant Biographies

Panel 1: African American History - Oral history, Genealogy, and Performance

Diane Brown Townes believes in creating more honest and equitable American history narratives.
William & Mary/Highland Community Laboratory Studies (Virtual); Awarded a Governor’s Fellowship to study Social Studies History; Master of Education University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA; Virginia Union University, Richmond, VA, Bachelor of Arts Social Studies Humanities; Brown Townes Education Productions LLC; Limited Liability Company, single business entity (2003); BTE Productions’ vocational education training offers opportunities for student interns to gain technical and digital storytelling experience. Students learn how the artform of digital storytelling can be used as a platform for activism.

Carol Miller and Burnell K. Irby Burnell Irby and his mother, Carol Miller, are in the field of education. They love history, and each pursues their own special interests. They have come together to present through family pictures, documentation, and memories what happened in Magruder, the birthplace of their grandmother. While many descendants had migrated, they maintained their connection to Magruder by caring for the families they had to leave and the land they thought would always been home. That would all change in 1942.

Latika Johnson is a community historian and Black culture enthusiast. She serves as the Oral History Coordinator with the Louisa County Historical Society under the African American History Program. She is a “Cultural Concierge” fusing interests in genealogy, African American history & heritage. She has served on the boards of the Richmond Boys Choir and was the board chair of the African American Repertory Theatre. In 2019, LaTika was presented with the “Stewards of the River Historical Values Award”, awarded by the James River Advisory Council where she was recognized for her service as the Diversity Committee Chair and coordinating the “Forgotten History Lecture Series.” A Gullah/Geechee descendant, LaTika was born in Savannah, Georgia. She has been immersed in Virginia history and cultural heritage preservation including public relations at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources and with the Elegba Folklore Society in Richmond, Virginia.

Derrick Jones completed a master’s degree in special education at William and Mary and received an undergraduate degree from Appalachian State University in 1979. He worked as a special education teacher and 16 years in administration in Virginia. He is very interested in baseball, particularly the Negro Leagues. He has displayed his extensive collection at William & Mary several times and has shared his research at a Lemon's Legacies Porch Talk in 2018.

Panel 2: Identity, Transformation, Reclamation

Benji de la Piedra is a writer, oral historian, and educator based in Little Rock, Arkansas. He directs the Herbert Denton Biography Project at the University of the District of Columbia and teaches oral history courses there and at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He consults on community-centered oral history projects around the United States and is an active member of the Oral History Association. As a Visiting Scholar at the John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress, he is currently working on a memoir of ideas about journalism, race, and heroism that ties together his research and reflections on Herbert Denton, Albert Murray, and Ralph Ellison.

Eric S. King is a native of Philadelphia, PA. Mr. King was educated in the Catholic school system of Philadelphia. He earned his B.A. in Political Science from Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia in 1971; he earned his Master’s degree in Politics from Princeton University in 1973. He served as a lecturer at St. Joseph University, as professor at West Virginia State University, as professor and chairperson of the Political Science Department at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, as assistant dean of advising and adjunct faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania, as assistant professor and chairperson of the department of History and Political Science at Virginia Union University, and as adjunct professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. 

Dr. Kyle R. Fox is a graduate of The University of Alabama, where he received a BA in Political Science and African American Studies. He also holds a MA in Communication Studies with concentrations in Gender, Race, and Political Rhetoric from The University of Alabama’s College of Information Sciences. Kyle obtained his Ph.D. in Humanities with a concentration in African American Studies from Clark Atlanta University. His research focuses on the construction and performance of gendered and raced identities, specifically, black masculinity. He credits his research interests and professional pursuits to a constant quest to ensure that accurate representations of the black male are realized. Ensuring the diverse representations of all identity groups, especially black populations, is one of his driving forces. Kyle is currently an Assistant Professor of Communication at The College of Coastal Georgia. There he serves as faculty advisor to the Black Student Union, faculty representative on CCGA’s President Commission on Diversity and Inclusion, and serves as the college’s representative on the University System of Georgia’s Regents’ Advisory Committee for Communication. Kyle has recently signed a textbook deal with nationally renowned Kendall Hunt Publishers. The forthcoming text is entitled Lift Ev’ry Voice: Public Speaking for the HBCU Classroom.

David Nnanna C. Ikpo is a Nigerian lawyer and storyteller. His debut novel Fimisile Forever was shortlisted for the LAMBDA Literary Prize for Best Gay Fiction 2018. He is presently a doctoral candidate and communications officer at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria. He is a member of the Queer Space Collective, a collaborative initiative between the Centre for Human Rights and Centre for Sexualities AIDS & Gender, with the vision of making the University of Pretoria safer and more inclusive of queer identity and expression through creative writing expressions. In his spare time he runs his personal blog ‘Letters to My Africa’ (nnannaikpo.blogspot.com). He is also on the organising team for Pride Afrique.

Panel 3: Black Male Well-Being

Montrell Pryor is a Licensed Graduate Social Worker in the Washington, D.C. area. He received his Bachelor and Masters of Social Work from Western Kentucky University, a Masters of Special Education from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, and is a current Doctorate of Social Work student, and instructor, at the University of Kentucky. Montrell specializes in the holistic care of Black men. Treating common disorders such as anxiety, depression, and all trauma related disorders. He also has a wealth of experience working with young Black boys and men including within LGBTQ+ community. He uses a variety of modalities such as CBT and EMDR, when working to address negative thoughts and trauma within clients in order to bring a sense of healing. In his spare time, he is the host of Dear Black Boy: a therapeutic podcast for black men, that can be found on all platforms. 

Dr. Jessica Martin is a clinical assistant professor in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program at William & Mary. Dr. Martin is a certified rehabilitation counselor and has over 12 years of experience in disability and clinical mental health counseling. Her areas of research interest include: the impact of race/ethnicity in the counseling process and post-secondary transition services for Black youth with disabilities. Dr. Andrew Wood is currently an Assistant Professor of Counseling at the University of Cincinnati and coordinates the Mental Health Counseling track. His research interests mainly pertain to psycho-oncology and how cancer effects individuals and their families. He also has interests in critical or radical approaches to counseling and counselor education. 

Terrence Joshua Lewis is a Presidential Research Fellow at Auburn University completing a PhD in Secondary Education Social Science. Before enrolling at Auburn University, he taught middle school and high school social studies within the Columbus, Georgia schools. Terrance is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc., where he has held many local-level and state-level positions. He firmly believes a life serving others is a life well lived, so he takes pleasure in mentoring and molding those who follow in his footsteps. Terrance’s research interests include examining the experiences of men and boys of color inside and outside of educational contexts and teaching with documentary film. 

Panel 4: Justice, Belonging, Autonomy

JaeKur Lockhart is an Arkansas native. There, at Henderson State University, he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Social Work. He then went on to receive his Master’s degree in Higher Education from Arkansas State University. Jae-Kur is currently employed at the University of Missouri -- Columbia, where he serves as a Student Success Coach for the Division of Inclusion, Diversity, & Equity, where he works closely with marginalized populations in effort to increase retention through programming and student support. Jae-Kur has worked to build a series of initiatives to promote the success and recognition of marginalized populations. At Arkansas State University, Jae-Kur developed a Diversity training series that gives participants an overview of the communities that the university serves. With this training, participants develop stronger competencies for these communities as well as tools in which to be better allies as well. 

Jesse Bulluck is a Ph.D. student in Educational Leadership Policy at Texas Tech University, where his research interest is education law and policy, with a particular focus on student discipline policies and student conduct procedures. Specifically, he is most interested in the intersection of the criminal justice system with the educational system, taking an in-depth look at the development of the police-school relationship and the use of police officers for handling student behavioral issues. Jesse is a native of Rocky Mount, NC. He completed his B.A in Philosophy and B.S. in Biology from Howard University in Washington, D.C., and his M.S. in Criminal Justice from North Carolina Central University in Durham, NC. He earned his J.D. from the Howard University School of Law. He is licensed to practice law in the State of Maryland and before the Supreme Court of the United States.

Brandon Alston is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Sociology at Northwestern University with graduate certificates in African American Studies and Teaching and Learning. His research examines how surveillance systems operate across poor black neighborhoods, prisons, and probation programs. Brandon’s research has been supported by the Social Science Research Council, the Institute for Research on Poverty, and the Institute for Citizens and Scholars. Brandon has been recognized as a National Academies of Sciences Ford Predoctoral Fellow and an American Bar Foundation Doctoral Fellow. 

Don Brien Gatewood For 20 years, Don Brien Gatewood has successfully managed various Not for Profit/Community Development Initiatives in his hometown Detroit and the Washington, D.C area (where he has lived for nearly a decade).  Currently Don is the cofounder and Executive Director of The Initiative Baltimore, Professional and Leadership Coach and a Program Officer for a Workforce Development Initiative.  His professional background includes serving in leadership capacities at other nonprofits including  Project ReDirect,  Goodwill Industries, American Red Cross, and others.    He completed his Bachelor’s studies at Wayne State University; Masters at University of Maryland.

Panel 5. Black Men Navigating and Shattering Stereotypes

Robert Monson Jr. is a writer, author, seminarian, musician, full-time worker, and podcast host of two shows Three Black Men, and Black Coffee and Theology. He has helped various organizations through consulting work and advocacy. 

Dr. Lynnette Nickleberry Stewart serves as chair of SUNY Empire State College’s Child and Family Studies Department. Her research primarily adheres to an intersectionality perspective, which centralizes race, class, sexuality, and other identities in the construction and production of family, bodily, racial, and gender ideologies. She is also the Coordinator of the Empire State College School of Graduate Studies Advanced Veterans Services Certificate Program. She holds a BA in Psychology from Stephens College (MO) and a MA and PhD in Human Development and Family Studies from the University of Missouri.

Alton Coston, III is a junior at William & Mary double majoring in Public Policy and Africana Studies. In addition to currently serving as the Village Initiative’s Community Fellow conducting educational policy research, he’s also a Jackie Robinson Foundation Scholar, a WM Scholar, a Forsythe Scholar, and a winner of the Hulon Willis Association Memorial Scholarship. On campus, Alton serves as President of the African American Male Coalition, Vice-President of the Kappa Pi Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., and Undersecretary of Multicultural Affairs in Student Assembly. 

Linda Quarles Arencibia is a researcher, writer, and public speaker who addresses historic and contemporary Black equestrianism. Inspiration from a class in African history, as a youth, and family history and values imbued Ms. Arencibia with a life-long passion for African and African American History and culture. A love of horses combined with the overarching interest in Black history undergird her research, writing, and presentations. Linked with values of inclusion and fairness, these concentrations drive the vision that Ms. Arencibia calls Equestrian Equality. Currently a Groom-In-Training at Red Horse Equine Training and School, Ms. Arencibia works with horses of various breeds and levels of training and domesticity. Firsthand experience with various equines adds substance and context to her research and enriches Ms. Arencibia’s understanding of the horse and human bond. Linda currently resides in Louisa County, Virginia, near the epicenter of Virginia horse activity and history.

Panel 6. African American History - Freedom, Ingenuity, Legacy

Professor Ervin L. Jordan Jr. is an associate professor and research archivist at the University of Virginia’s Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library since 1979. He specializes in Civil War and African-American history and is author of three books including Professor Jordan has published n for a variety of publications including the Encyclopedia Virginia https://encyclopediavirginia.org/author/ervinljordan/ and is also a Wikipedia entry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ervin_L._Jordan_Jr.
As a member of the President’s Commission on the University in the Age of Segregation, Professor Jordan’s research on the African-American academy experience has appeared in two University of Virginia Press monographs: The Key to the Door: Experiences of Early African American Students at the University of Virginia (2017) and The Founding of Thomas Jefferson’s University (2019). 

Rachael Finch is the Senior Director of Preservation & Education for the Heritage Foundation of Williamson County, TN. Finch holds an MA in Public History with emphases in Historic Preservation, Cultural Resource Management and Administration of Historical Organizations from Middle Tennessee State University and a BA in History and Political Science from Metropolitan State University in Denver, Colorado. Finch currently serves on the membership committee for the National Preservation Partner Networks, the Board of Directors for the Franklin Civil War Round Table and Chairs the City of Franklin’s Civil War Historic Commission. Finch appeared in several award-winning documentaries including The American South as We Know it and Desperate Days: The Last Hope for the Confederacy. 

Jackson Elliott Cantrell Based in Florence, Italy, Jackson Cantrell is a National Merit Scholar with Florida State University’s International Programs. Recently named by PBS as a Louisiana Young Hero, Jack is recognized for his historical research, publications, and advocacy. In 2019, Cantrell installed commemorative markers to honor formerly unknown enslaved and Native groups at Fontainebleau State Park. In 2020, the grounds of Fontainebleau came under threat of being developed into a resort complex. Jack’s advocacy in legislative testimony, public speaking, and application to the National Trust for Historic Preservation helped safeguard the site. His lifelong passion for preserving the dignity of all peoples comes from his older brother, Cole. Born with significant developmental disabilities, he inspired Jack to serve as Special Education Advocate with Louisiana’s Legislative Youth Advisory Council. Mutual respect and Sankofa guide him

Panel 7. Jim Crow

• Moderator: Dr. Sara Bon-Harper, James Monroe's Highland
• George Monroe, Jr
• Francis W. Scott, Jr
• Jennifer Stacy
• Rakeem Walker

Panel 9. (In)Valuable: Black Boys at the Williamsburg Bray School, 1762 

Moderator: Dr. Jajuan Johnson, William & Mary

Dr. Maureen Elgersman Lee is the Mellon Engagement Coordinator for African American Heritage at William & Mary and serves as the Director of the William & Mary Bray School Lab. A history professor for more than two decades, Dr. Elgersman Lee has held dynamic academic and administrative positions including Faculty Scholar for the African American Collection of Maine at the University of Southern Maine and Executive Director of Richmond’s Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia. A former department chairperson and an award-winning scholar and teacher, Dr. Elgersman Lee has authored, co-authored, and edited several books and chapters on women, slavery, community history, and intersectionality in the African Diaspora, with an emphasis on the United States, Canada, and the British Caribbean.

Nicole Brown is a scholar and interpreter of women in Virginia spanning from 1750 to 1800. Mrs. Brown graduated from William & Mary in 2013. Over the past seven years, the topics of religion, education, and slavery in Colonial Virginia have been the focus of her research. As of 2021, Mrs. Brown is completing an M.A. in American Studies at William & Mary. She is also the Bray School Lab Assistant. Her work as a public historian has taken her across the globe. In 2017, Nicole was awarded a short-term Fellowship at the International Center for Jefferson Studies in Charlottesville, Virginia to research eighteenth-century women’s education. Mrs. Brown also spoke in Reims, France at the 2018 National Association for Interpretation’s annual conference regarding the efficacy of using character interpretation to discuss challenging topics. In January 2019, she was awarded a Gonzales Grant by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation to visit the University of Oxford, studying the Associates of Dr. Bray and the Church of England’s involvement in enslaved education across Colonial America. 

Adam Canaday was born in Williamsburg, Virginia. He is an employee of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation where he has been involved since the age of 5. Mr. Canaday currently is a carriage driver at the Foundation; he gets excitement out of giving those who ride a different truth that they may not have known existed. Adam’s Passion is Culture, and what motivates him to do more is understanding how much those who came before him did with less.

Panel 10. Interrogating the Narrative of “the Fear of Black Men” as a Defense for the Unjust Killing of Black Males in America

Moderator: Dr. Tommy Curry is a Professor of Philosophy and holds the Personal Chair of Africana Philosophy and Black Male Studies at the University of Edinburgh. His research interests are 19th century ethnology, Critical Race Theory & Black Male Studies. He is the author of The Man-Not: Race, Class, Genre, and the Dilemmas of Black Manhood (Temple University Press 2017), which won the 2018 American Book Award. In 2019 he became the editor of the first book series dedicated to the study of Black males entitled Black Male Studies: A Series Exploring the Paradoxes of Racially Subjugated Males on Temple University Press. Dr. Curry’s research has been recognized by Diverse as placing him among the Top 15 Emerging Scholars in the United States in 2018, and his public intellectual work earned him the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy’s Alain Locke Award in 2017. 

Michael Rene Taylor is an organizer, father, and Philosophy student at Mary Baldwin University. He was born in Washington, D.C. and his areas of inquiry are Black Male Studies, Social Philosophy, Literary theory, Anti-colonial thought, and PanAfrican Socialism.

Miron Clay- Gilmore is a husband, father, veteran, and PhD Candidate in Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri and his research interests include Black Male Studies, Anti-Colonial Philosophy, Black Aesthetics and Black Nationalism.

Dr. Adebayo Oluwayomi currently teaches courses in philosophy and the black experience in the department of philosophy at Howard University. He is also an ACLS Post-doctoral fellow and research associate at the Leslie Center for the Humanities at Dartmouth College. His research interests include African, Africana/Black Philosophy, Critical Race Theory, Black Male Studies, Social Epistemology, and Anticolonial Philosophy. His research in Africana Philosophy has received funding from the Melbern G. Glasscock Center for Humanities Research and the American Council of Learned Societies. His publications appear in American Philosophical Quarterly, Journal of Black Studies, International Journal of Humanities, Inter-American Journal of Philosophy, Africology: The Journal of Pan African Studies, and the APA Newsletter on Philosophy and the Black Experience

Dr. Dalitso Ruwe holds a joint appointment as an assistant professor of Black political thought in the Philosophy and Black Studies Departments at Queen’s University. His research interests are intellectual history of Africana philosophy, anticolonial theory, Africana legal history, Black male studies, and Black philosophies of education. His recent publications appear in APA Newsletter: The Black Experience, Theory & Event, Teachers College Record and The Blackwell Companion to Public Philosophy.

Panel 11. Black Male Supervisors Navigating Racial Battle Fatigue in the Workplace

Terrance J. Sanders served in the United States Army for more than 24 years, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel after concluding his career as the Chief of Policy Branch for Human Resources at the Pentagon. During his two deployments in Iraq, he was awarded three Bronze Star medals for his outstanding leadership. After joining the Department of Veterans Affairs, he works as a Senior Compliance Officer, advising facilities on topics relating to organization reform. At the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, he is pursuing a Ph.D. in Business Psychology. His study investigates the significant implication of racial battle fatigue experiencedby Black male supervisors in the workplace. He graduated magna cum laude from Webster University with a Master's degree in Human Resource Management. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Jacksonville State University and graduated with honors from Eastern New Mexico University with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology.

Dr. Irvin Moore has over 20 years of leadership knowledge and expertise. For the last seven years, his work has focused in the areas of grants administration and management, program development, leadership, and strategic management. As a social worker, Dr. Moore has worked extensively within the city, state, and federal government to champion behavioral health initiatives, evaluate the effectiveness of programs, and ensure that those receiving state and federal funds achieve quality performance outcomes. Dr. Moore is a scholar of organizational effectiveness and psychological safety across business settings. He is adept at bringing vision, innovation, and accountability to the world of work. Dr. Moore completed his doctoral studies in Organizational Leadership at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, where his research explored organizational trauma in the federal sector during times of leadership transitions. Dr. Moore's additional research explores the intersection of black masculinity, historical oppression, and leadership. He holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practices and a Bachelor of Science summa cum laude in Business Administration from Trinity Washington, University.