Panelists

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• Pearis Bellamy

  •  Bio on A4BL website

• Dr. Della V. Mosley

  • Bio on A4BL website

• Dr. Bedford Palmer II, Associate Professor and Chair of the Counseling Department, Saint Mary’s College of California

  • He holds a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology and researches issues related to social justice and cultural factors. Dr. Palmer maintains a small private practice in Oakland California, where he works with a diverse clientele and provides multicultural competence training to individuals and organizations. He is also a past President of the Alameda Psychological Association, and producer/cohost of the Naming It podcast, and the author of "Daddy Why Am I Brown?": A healthy conversation about skin color and family. You can learn more about Dr. Palmer’s work at www.drbfpalmer.com, and you can follow him @drbfpalmer on Twitter and Instagram.

• Dr. Kevin Cokley, Professor of Counseling Psychology & Diaspora Studies, Director of IUPRA, University of Texas Austin

  • Kevin Cokley, Ph.D. holds the Oscar and Anne Mauzy Regents Professorship for Educational Research and Development in the College of Education at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a Fellow of both the University of Texas System and University of Texas Academy of Distinguished Teachers, Director of the Institute for Urban Policy Research & Analysis, and Professor of Educational Psychology and African and African Diaspora Studies.  Dr. Cokley’s research and teaching can be broadly categorized in the area of African American psychology, with a focus on racial and ethnic identity and understanding the psychological and environmental factors that impact African American students’ academic achievement. Dr. Cokley studies the psychosocial experiences of students of color, and is currently exploring the impostor phenomenon and its relationship to mental health and academic outcomes. His publications have appeared in professional journals such as the Journal of Counseling Psychology, Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, the Journal of Black Psychology, Journal of Black Studies, Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, and the Harvard Educational Review. He is the past Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Black Psychology, and was elected to Fellow status in the American Psychological Association for his contributions to ethnic minority psychology and counseling psychology. He holds the title of Distinguished Psychologist in the Association of Black Psychologists, and is the recipient of the 2014 Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award, the 2009 Charles and Shirley Thomas Award for mentoring ethnic minority students, the 2008 “10 Rising Stars of the Academy” award by Diverse Issues in Higher Education, the 2007 Association of Black Psychologists’ Scholarship Award, and the 2004 co-recipient of the Emerging Professional Award given by the Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues. He is author of the 2014 book “The Myth of Black Anti-Intellectualism” that challenges the notion that African American students are anti-intellectual. He has written several Op-Eds in major media outlets on topics such as Blacks’ rational mistrust of police, the aftermath of Ferguson, police and race relations, racism and White supremacy, the use of school vouchers, and racial disparities in school discipline. His research has been recognized in media outlets including the New York Times, USA Today, and Inside Higher Education. 

• Dr. Kimberly Burdine, Assistant Director, Training Director, The University of Texas at Dallas Student Counseling Center

  • Bio on A4BL website

• Dr. Christen A. Smith, Founder of Cite Black Women, Associate Professor of Anthropology and African & African Diaspora Studies at The University of Texas at Austin

  • ​Bio  & Photo taken from Dr. Smith’s website (http://www.afro-paradise.com/)

  • Christen A. Smith, Ph.D. is a Black feminist anthropologist, social justice advocate, founder of Cite Black Women and Associate Professor of Anthropology and African and African Diaspora Studies at The University of Texas at Austin. Her work focuses on the gendered dimensions of anti-Black state violence and resistance in the Americas, particularly Brazil. Based on her long-term collaborations with black organizers in Brazil, Smith's book, Afro-Paradise: Blackness, Violence and Performance in Brazil  (University of Illinois Press, 2016) chronicles Black Brazilians' experiences with police violence in Salvador, Bahia and the dialectic between this violence and the state's construction of Bahia as an exotic space (afro-paradise). Using the lens of performance and performance theory, she examines the immediate and long-term impact of police violence on Black communities, particularly on Black women and Black families. Building from Afro-Paradise, Smith's current research project theorizes sequela: the lingering, deadly impact of police violence on Black communities and especially women in Brazil and the U.S. Smith graduated with her A.B. in Anthropology from Princeton University and her Ph.D. in Cultural and Social Anthropology from Stanford University. In addition to writing and researching, she also collaborates with Black  Brazilian organizers in the struggle to end anti-Black genocide in Brazil and beyond. 

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