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James Loewen taught race relations for 20 years at the University of Vermont; prior to that he taught at Tougaloo College in Mississippi. James W. Loewen is the author of several books, including Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong, Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism and The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader: The “Great Truth” about the “Lost Cause.”

Drawing on her experience as the child of Jamaican immigrants, born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, Patrice enjoys exploring issues of race, immigration and belonging. Her essays have appeared in a variety of publications, including Sweet: A Literary Confection and the online editions of The New York Times and The Washington Post. Her radio commentaries have appeared on Charlotte, North Carolina’s NPR station WFAE 90.7.

Barbie is a school counselor at a dual-language elementary school in North Carolina, and a member of the Teaching Tolerance Advisory Board. Her passion for issues of race, immigration, gender and sexual justice is a strong influence in her school counseling program. In 2013, Garayúa-Tudryn founded Mariposas, a group for Latina girls that promotes empowerment by exploring issues of intersectionality, social emotional health and civic engagement.

Heather A. O'Connell is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University, and a recent graduate from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Her work contributes to understandings of race and racial inequalities in the United States by examining differences across places. This spatial lens has led to a focus on processes connected to racial composition, history, region, and migration.

Amy Melik is an educator and facilitator with experience at the elementary, middle, high school and adult levels of education. She currently serves as ELL Teacher and coordinator for a school district near Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and is an equity specialist for BlackBlack and Associates, LLC. Amy serves on the Learning for Justice Ambassadors Collective as well. Her passion is working with culturally relevant practices as they relate to educators, parents and students, especially equitable opportunities for multicultural and bilingual families. Amy's current professional development projects are