I often refer to myself as an ordinary Black Gay cisgender man from Oklahoma with extraordinary dreams. Currently, that dream involves working with trans and queer communities of color to reimagine the ways we approach teaching and learning. 

I am grateful to continue this work in NYC as an incoming Assistant Professor of Teaching & Learning at NYU|Steinhardt. My specific research interests include Black youth agency, Black LGBTQ+ world-making,  the role of critical love in education, and transformative teacher education. I have written about the aforementioned topics in personal essays and publications, all of which you can find on my website. 

 

I earned my Ed.D. in Curriculum and Teaching at Teachers College, Columbia University. My dissertation explored the agency of Black LGBTQ+ youth in NYC’s ballroom culture. In addition to completing my doctoral work, I hold a B.A. in Spanish Education from Oklahoma City University and an M.A in Spanish and TESOL from New York University. I've taught Spanish and ESL at the elementary, secondary, and post-secondary levels in Oklahoma, New York, Uruguay, and Spain. I have also taught undergraduate and graduate courses on Urban Education, Teaching Developmental Reading, and Literacy, Language, and Culture at CUNY-Hunter College. I should also mention that I have a small addiction to chocolate chip cookies, I love Mariah Carey, and I believe that Toni Morrison may just have been my favorite writer and human.

 

I'm also happy to share that I was selected as one of the 2020-2022 Fellows in the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Research Foundation's Cultivating New Voices (CNV) Among Scholars of Color Program. I’m the creator and host of the podcast, Water For Teachers. Lastly and most importantly, I’m a human who cares about other humans.