2024 Instructors
Michelle B. Taylor, Ph.D. is an author, activist, public speaker, podcaster, and consultant. She is the founder of Sankofa Summer School and is committed to liberation through education and enlightenment. Dr. Taylor's research interests include Hip Hop culture, LGBTQ identity, African American cinema, gender equity, social work and mental health, and socioeconomic justice advocacy. Read more: https://www.sankofasummerschool.com/about
Courtney Carr (she/her) recently earned her PhD in Africology and African American Studies from Temple University. She received a Master of Arts degree in Pan African Studies from Syracuse University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Africana Studies from Cornell University. Courtney’s research interests include Afrocentricity, Afrofuturism, nongovernmental organization discourse, transnational feminism(s), and unpacking narrative formulations about women impacted by female genital cutting.
Damali Harding (she/her) is an expert in renewable energy and electric utilities. She has provided strategic advising to Duke Energy, National Grid and other major U.S. and international energy companies. Before joining RAP, she worked for Oracle (formerly Opower), where she advised utilities on behavioral load shaping, customer engagement strategies and demand response management. Previously, Harding served as executive director of The Energy Co-op, a member-owned nonprofit cooperative that provides renewable energy to thousands of homes and businesses in the greater Philadelphia area. She remains on the board of the cooperative. Damali Harding also served as commercial director for Enviva LP, the world’s largest producer of industrial biomass to create clean renewable energy. She has also worked for IBM Global Business Management services and Deloitte Consulting as a strategy consultant focusing on operations. Damali Harding is on the board of the American Association of Blacks in Energy and is a member of Women of Renewable Industries and Sustainable Energy. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from Dartmouth College and a Master of Business Administration from Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business. She is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Timothy Welbeck is the Director for the Center of Anti-Racism at Temple University. A Civil Rights Attorney by training, Timothy is a scholar of law, race, and cultural studies whose work has allowed him to contribute to various media outlets, such as the CNN, CBS, BBC Radio 4, The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, NPR, The Huffington Post, WHYY, REVOLT TV, etc. Timothy lives in the Philadelphia area with his wife and three children.
Jéri L. Ogden, Ed.D (she/her) is an educator, writer, and facilitator with a passion for and emphasis on equitable practices and cultural competence. With over 14 years of progressive teacher leadership, she works a nationally recognized education non-profit where she focuses on providing teaching and learning experieneces to a network of educators. Dr. Ogden is also a member of the adjunct staff at Georgetown University and Marymount University where her courses focus on restorative practices, relationship building in school systems, professional collaboration, and empathy. In addition, she is the founder of P.U R.P.L.E., a consulting firm that provides purposeful, uplifting, and restorative professional learning experiences to organizations and communities. Dr. Ogden holds a Bachelor's from Howard University in Communication and Culture, a Master's from American University in Educational Leadership and Policy, and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership and Organizational Innovation from Marymount. Her work is rooted in the philosophy that you cannot separate the tree from its roots and she is always seeking to understanding the context of people and places because it matters.
Faheemah Salahud-Din Floyd (she/her) is a Black American and Afro-Trinidadian multi-creative Spiritualist, Community Organizer and Writer. Born in California, she founded Jaah House Publishing to support Black self-published authors. Faheemah is deeply committed to re-indigenizing her community, starting with herself first. She believes that books are a powerful weapon in the fight for freedom. When asked what her genre is she will simply say Black people because her stories shed light on the beauty and vastness of the Black experience.Through her writing, she examines the intersections of race, identity, gender, and the collective journey toward authenticity. As a community organizer and spiritualist, she works with her family and village to build a new world. Her diverse roles include Author, Ghostwriter, Copywriter, Book Editor, Graphic Designer, Website Developer, Herbalist and Doula. Led by her Ancestors, she integrates these gifts, to create unique offerings that are medicine for her people. She is dedicated to helping others get free, approaching every project with authenticity and a spiritually rooted perspective because everything is spiritual.
Erica Jocelyn Chew (she/her) is a former news producer. She was a national columnist for HAPPENINGS in Sister2Sister magazine and wrote "African Americans and Agriculture" for the Encyclopedia of African American History. She currently works as an editor and on her blog, CHEW'S TRUTH: Because Truth IS The Light©
Monzurat Oni (she/her) is a Brooklyn-born Nigerian deeply invested in the potential for "the diaspora" to unite and liberate oppressed peoples through collective action. A digital strategist, community organizer, and activist, she holds holds a bachelor’s in international relations and a master’s in African studies from Stanford University. She serves on the executive board of Brooklyn's Community Board 17, and is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Asa Todd (she/her) is a mental health advocate whose transparency about her own journey with mental illness has been the cornerstone of her activism on the subject. On top of writing about her bipolar disorder diagnosis on her blog, www.lithiumtolashes.com, she also volunteers as a speaker for the NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) In Our Own Voices Program. In speaking openly and candidly about her own struggles and triumphs, she hopes to inspire others to seek treatment, improve the current mental healthcare system, and reduce the stigma that holds us all back from being our best selves.
Abiola Agoro (she/they) disabled queer Black woman educator, visual artist, strategist, organizer, and fashion designer. As a lifelong conduit of information, Abiola has led with non-traditional approaches to education and visual arts since childhood, teaching full classes on advocacy to adults at the age of 13 and opening up her own clothing store at the age of 15. With accolades and features across education and the visual arts from the NAACP, Nike, Women’s Health Mag and more Abiola continually seeks to harmonize the ever evolving digital age with the decommissioning of institutional structures across industry. Currently, Abiola leads a social media following of 132,000+ engaging her audience on racial justice, mental health advocacy, disability advocacy, and joy. In a world that often denies Black women invisibility Abiola uses the philosophical framework of living “a life in the sun” to ground all of her work in transparency, truth, liberation, discomfort, and radical love.
Niki Irene (she/her) is a Washington, DC-based visual artist and podcaster.