Anti-bias and anti-racist education speakers
Our anti-bias and anti-racist speakers are authors and changemakers who illuminate the deep challenges facing our society. Many draw from lived experience, bringing nuance, urgency, and authenticity to ABAR conversations. With clarity and compassion, they engage audiences on the issues of belonging, equity, resilience, and repair and spark the kinds of dialogue that lead to real change.
Britt hawthorne
NYT bestselling author | Anti-racist Visionary | ABAR Advocate | Educator | Parenting expert
“Antiracism calls us to live a life full of intentional acts, to come to new understandings and commit to new ways to live justly--not to repeat patterns of oppression.”
jezz chung
Inclusive Wellness Advisor | Multidisciplinary Artist | Disability Advocate | Author | Creative Career Coach
“We must imagine and implement a culture that encourages us to care for each other, to remember that our innate interconnectedness.”
Omkari l. williams
Award-winning and Bestselling Author | Microactivism Advocate | Sustainable Changemaker
“Finding your path to activism means finding your way of making a difference. Activist burnout, particularly for those working toward an antiracist future, is real. It happens when we don’t factor in who we are and what our actual capacity is. Not the capacity we think we should have but the capacity we do have. Find a way of activism that you can sustain. We have to be realistic about our capacity at this moment in our life, because capacity isn’t static, it expands and contracts.”
myisha cherry
Human Emotions Expert | Director of the Emotion and Society Lab | Philosopher and Acclaimed Author
“There are many kinds of anger. As a philosopher and an anti-racist scholar, I study anger through the lens of political injustice, and I have sorted political rage into five categories. The first four are at best unproductive and at worst dangerous, but the fifth variety can be useful and lead to positive change. I call it “Lordean rage,” and it is our best hope.”
Tiffany Jewell
#1 NYT Bestselling Author | Anti-racist Anti-bias (ABAR) Advocate | Acclaimed Educator | Biracial Storyteller
“I help others wake up, take action, and do the work of becoming antiracist. I support families and educators in building strong, authentic communities in which everyone is seen and valued.”
jamilah pitts
Leading Voice in Liberatory Education, Culturally Responsive Teaching, and Community Repair | Author | Social entrepreneur
“It is important for educators to understand that to center liberation, to center the well-being and overall success of our students, we have to also protect our health and well-being.”
joel christian gill
Award-winning Cartoonist, Author, and Educator | Bestselling Illustrator | National Advocate for Sharing Stories
“I’m here to tell you that Black history is my history and your history. It is everybody’s history. It’s our responsibility to go out and celebrate our history every day. 28 days are not enough.”
john jennings
Black Culture Champion | Hugo and Eisner Award Winner | NYT Bestselling Author | Illustrator | Design Theorist
“Afrofuturism is looking backwards to move forward. I think it’s a disservice to the past to forget it. We have to understand where we’ve come from. Think about what we’ve survived. Think about the positive aspects and move forward.”
layla f. saad
Global Bestselling Author of Me & White Supremacy | Antiracist Leader and CEO | Neurodivergent Visionary
“Antiracism work that does not break the heart open cannot move people toward meaningful change.”
tony Keith Jr.
Black and Gay Award-winning Poet | Spoken Word Artist | Educational Leader and Author for Youth | Entrepreneur
“Counter negative self-talk with your voice. By doing so, I came to be unafraid of–and unapologetic about–who I am. I now help others discover the life-changing love, joy, and freedom that comes from listening to their own voice.”
tiera tanksley
100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics | Justice, Technology & Education Expert | Award-winning AI Researcher
“The abolitionist approach involves pushing back against “the default setting” of AI. Algorithmic racism has socio-emotional, mental health, and educational consequences. Resist biased technologies, and let’s produce more just and joyous digital experiences together.”
lee hawkins
Pulitzer Prize Finalist Journalist and Author | 19-years at WSJ | Podcast Creator and Host | Fearless Storyteller | Expert on Aces and impacts of Racism
“Corporal punishment in schools was big in the Jim Crow era. And what I found in my research is that it continues to be legal in 17 states, and Black kids are hit at a disproportionately higher rate. You still see Black children beaten at disproportionately higher levels in schools in the former slavery states. It’s baked into the American culture.”