Activists in residence

Adrienne  (she/her/hers) was an inaugural Activist in Residence with ATN. She has worked for more than 15 years to create educational environments wherein the skills and talents of young people who have previously been incarcerated grow and where young people can thrive. Adrienne's a racial justice advocate, an organizational racial justice strategist, a math teacher, an experienced school leader and soon, a lawyer. Much of her commitment to abolition comes from being a parent and having learned from the gentle parenting community. She loves baseball and soccer and makes a mean chocolate babka.

Angela  (she/her/hers) was an inaugural Activist in Residence with ATN. She is a 5th year, first grade teacher at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. African American Immersion School and chairwoman of the Black Educators Caucus in Milwaukee, WI. She is an abolitionist educator who is passionate about creating educational spaces where Black children are thriving. She is devoted to providing education to create accessible, inclusive, and uplifting environments in coalition with families, students, and community. She has dedicated her time to advocating for equitable education at the local and state level. She is devoted to and is an active member of her union and serves as her schools building representative and serves as a member of the Human and Civil Rights committee at WEAC. She is also a contributing author in the Black Lives Matter at Schools book.

ashley (she/her/hers) was an inaugural Activist in Residence with ATN. She has had quite the life of performing and teaching and teaching performance.  ashley has been celebrating her 20th year of teaching since the year started, and feels she's JUST getting to be at the top of her creating game with young people, family, and communities. ashley believes in young Black people, and hopes to live into the collective dreams, alongside community, of making schools the most joyful and loving place Black, Brown, and Indigenous youth can wonder, play, and learn. ashley has been through some very painful+joyful radical transformation as a Black person+educator and has been supporting other educators and community members in the same process of reclaiming themselves from white supremacy. What work, what JOY!

Jonathan (he/him/el) was an inaugural Activist in Residence with ATN. He is an Atlanta-based Central American educator, researcher, and organizer. Dancing gives him joy and pupusas are his favorite food. He uses research, creative writing, teaching, and organizing to contribute to building the world that we all deserve to live in.

Keedra (they/she) was an inaugural Activist in Residence with ATN. They are a life-long learner and educator of more than 20 years born in Cincinnati, Ohio. She has learned from various communities while teaching in cities across the country including Atlanta, NYC, and most recently in Chicago, where she organized with Assata's Daughters and learned about youth organizing from some of the fiercest organizers in the Midwest region. After teaching in various parts of Africa, she designed and implemented programs for U.S. born students to learn about Pan-Africanism and form relationships with children through visiting Africa. She is thrilled to bring her work back home to establish Abolitionist Freedom Schools with Abolitionist Teaching Network in the Bond Hill community and to build upon a rich legacy within the Black Radical Tradition.

Mshairi (she/her/hers) was an inaugural Activist in Residence with ATN. She is an Atlanta native (Kirkwood/Zone 6 to be exact). Mshairi identifies as a Black/Queer/Feminist/Nurturer/Liberator/Activist/Creative/Performer/Pre-K Enthusiast. She was educated at Georgia State University where she majored in African-American Studies. She has educated for Pre-K programs in Atlanta, New Orleans and Brooklyn. Mshairi is a member of The Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and one of the leaders of The New African Scouts. She has done community work supporting the progression of Black people, anti-police brutality, anti-sex trafficking, sex worker rights, and the liberation of political prisoners. Mshairi has dreams of owning a community based school one day and will always continue to serve her community.

Ruth  (she/they) is a student, educator, and organizer advocating for culturally responsive, equitable education. She studied music performance and education at Vanderbilt University before moving to Atlanta and teaching 2nd grade in Atlanta Public Schools. Abolition and collective liberation excite Ruth and drive her work in education. 

Shani (she/her/hers)  is an alumna of Tennessee State University and taught in Atlanta Public Schools for three years. She is currently a social justice advocate and mother. She is the co-author of the book, None of The Above: The Untold Story Of The Atlanta Public Schools Cheating Scandal, Corporate Greed, and the Criminalization of Educators.