Why I teach?

As a applied educator and activist I appreciate the influences that have sparked my creative energy as a life long learner.

Inspired by Paulo Freire, bell hooks, Wangari Maatthai I believe that every person has the right to be critically engaged in the world around them while also gaining a personal understanding (consciousness) of themselves and their impact on society. This right innately holds educators, mentors and peers accountable in their learning process.  I encourage and aim to model participatory practice in all aspects of my work.

An Aspiring Catalyst
My academic perspective to social sciences comes from an applied understanding and deep admiration for theories in Politics, African American studies, Criminology, Ethnic studies, Women's studies and Sociology. Because of this my approach to the academic world is through an interdisciplinary lens.

My role as an educator is to provide context and understanding of lived experiences and lessons of history that will be useful for students in their everyday lives.

I aim to provide a critical contemporary context to historical social, economic and political issues that my students face. I feel that my work in the community is as important as my work in the classroom. I find it motivating to be able to make the connections with students that allow them to see the interrelated web of self, community and society. I often use community-based research as a tool for instruction, especially if there are timely issues that impact my students and there is a relevant teachable moment.

Accomplishments

I’ve worked as an adjunct faculty member at DeAnza College and College of Alameda where I teach Grassroots Democracy: Race, Politics and the American Promise, Grassroots Democracy: Social Movements 1960 to the Present, American Government and Introduction to Sociology. At College of Alameda I teach in the Violence Prevention program and in the politics department. In January 2011 I received the Norman Lear Award from People for the American Way (Young People For).

I have over a decade of experience in the public and private sector. I have had many successes in the leadership development and training world. I have worked as a freelance journalist, professor, activist, and trainer for organizations in California and across the nation.

I was responsible for the creation of Heal the Streets (a violence prevention / youth leadership development program in Oakland) based at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. More recently I co-founded COMMIT (the Community Leadership Institute) in early 2011, whose mission is to engage, educate, and model change through justice-seeking and accountable leadership practices focusing primarily on cultivating action and peace through a collective of activists around the world.

I’ve earned a Master of Arts in Social Sciences (concentration in sociology) from Eastern Michigan University, and a Bachelors of Science in Political Science from Northern Michigan University.

In 2012 I defended my dissertation and completed my PhD in Transformative Inquiry at the California Institute of Integral Studies.

MOTHER JONES: WHO IS THE 1%?

Occupy Wall Street has focused national attention on the vast majority of Americans who have been left behind by the economic growth of the past few decades. But if OWS is the voice of the 99 percent, who exactly are the 1 percent?

A quick look at the numbers reveals that they aren't all bailed-out Wall Street execs or brokers pulling down fat bonuses.