Dr. Porcher and Dr. Bertrand, co-host with Dr. Shamari Reid and shea wesley martin to have a critical conversation about the importance of elevating the lives of Black LGBTQ+ folx and centering queer voices in the Black experience. 

Dr. Shamari Reid is an Assistant Professor of Critical Studies in Education at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Reid’s work explores questions of how Black trans and queer youth and their communities sustain themselves amidst oppression, as well as how we can collaborate with these communities to better transform schools into sites of equitable opportunities for youth. His dissertation, which explores the agency of Black LGBTQ+ youth in NYC’s ballroom culture was recently awarded the 2022 Dissertation of the Year Award by the Queer Studies SIG of AERA. In addition to working with LGBTQ+ communities of color to reimagine schools, Dr. Reid’s work engages the possibilities for reducing inequality in the lives of young people that result from centering radical love in social justice teaching and learning. You can engage more with Dr. Reid and his work on shamarireid.com

shea wesley martin is a lit teacher, scholar, and community curator raised at the intersection of gospel and go-go. Their scholarship and praxis explore the liberatory possibilities within queerness, transness, Blackness, and education in the past, present, and beyond. In their work, shea partners with teachers, community leaders, and (most importantly) young people to reimagine what reading and teaching literacy look, feel, and sound like. A seasoned educator and audacious dreamer, shea is a co-founder of Love and LiteraTea and spearheads The Unicorn Express, two community initiatives focused on providing books, support, and affirming literacy experiences to LGBTQ+ youth.