The people behind the project
Lisette B. Hughes
Bernard E. Harcourt
Bruce Western
Katharine Huffman
Che Gossett
Derecka Purnell
Kenyatta Emmanuel Hughes
Kiana Taghavi
Marissa Gutierrez-Vicario
Omavi Shukur
Shaina Evans
Vivian D. Nixon
Fonda Shen
Jason Seals is an African-centered educator, carrying the tradition of activist-intellectualism to address critical systemic issues and empower individuals for personal and social transformation. An Oakland native, Jason has over two decades of experience serving his community locally, nationally, and globally as an educator, thought leader, speaker, and change agent.
While completing his B.A. in Sociology at San Jose State University, Jason began his career in youth development serving in multiple roles across the nonprofit, mental health, and juvenile justice sectors. After obtaining his master’s in Africana Studies from the University of Albany, he leveraged his love for transformational educational practices and Africana studies in the classroom, teaching ethnic studies and manhood development courses at multiple high schools, colleges, and universities across the Bay Area.
Jason earned his M.Ed. in Counseling Psychology from the University of San Francisco. He currently serves as the Chair of Ethnic Studies and Professor of African American Studies at Merritt College in Oakland, California.
Dr. Lorraine C. Taylor is the Executive Director of the Juvenile Justice Institute, located in the Department of Criminal Justice at North Carolina Central University in Durham, North Carolina. In this role, Lorraine leads efforts to influence juvenile justice policy and practice by providing and supporting quality research, information, and technical assistance to youth system actors. Her work is guided by an “ecological systems” approach that evaluates how institutional, community and individual-level factors influence youth outcomes.
Rev. Michael McBride is the executive director for LIVE FREE USA a national organizing and social change network committed to ending the criminalization of people of color, reducing gun violence and transforming the policing and the criminal justice system. He was named by the Center for American Progress as a Top Clergy Leader in 2013 and served on President Obama’s Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships Council to address Poverty and Inequality in 2016.