Jackie Shaw
Councilwoman
Town of Ossining 

After leaving the corporate world to start a family, Jackie returned to the workforce as an entrepreneur. In addition to serving as a Councilwoman in the Town of Ossining, Jackie has been an active volunteer, representing the Town of Ossining on the Recreation Advisory Board since 2006 and as vice chair from 2011-2017. She has also been serving on the Ossining School District Equity Task Force since 2016, and My Brothers Keeper Committee since 2018.   Jackie has an MBA from Boston University Graduate School of Management with a concentration in Health Care Management, a BA from the College of William and Mary in Anthropology with a concentration in Africa and the African Diaspora, and a certificate in interior decorating from Parsons School of Design.

 Dr. Sheldon Applewhite is an Assistant Professor of Sociology in the Social Sciences & Human Services Department.  Dr. Applewhite earned his Ph.D. in Sociology from Howard University in 2006. His specializations are urban and medical sociology.  

Dr. Applewhite has worked as a Evaluator and Research Scientist at the New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene from 2005-2009 with the Healthy Start Brooklyn Program, a multi-million, federally funded program that addresses maternal health outcomes.  Dr. Applewhite joined the faculty of BMCC in 2010. A native New Yorker, who attended NYC public schools, His current work focuses on health disparities among racial and ethnic groups and health issues of the LGBTQ of color populations. His current research primarily focuses on HIV prevention strategies forsame sex couples.    He is also a former contributor to AMNY, A New York City-based local paper that circulates to over 300,000 readers daily in the New York City metropolitan area. He is the editor and author of An Anthology of Readings on Black Men in Contemporary America: Race, Gender and Identity on Cognella Press. Dr. Applewhite tweets at @DrSApplewhite.

From “Profiles of Pride: 10 people making a difference for LGBT New Yorkers”

“Our stories are rarely told from our perspective, in terms of being black gay men, or being LGBT people of color,” Applewhite says.  “And I think that I am one of the people who tries to illuminate our stories and provide research and data about our lives.”

“It kind of reinforced my beliefs around love, and black love in particular,” he says. “I know black love exists.”

More on Sheldon: https://Faculty.MBCC.CUNY.edu:7002/Faculty/fp.jsp?f=sapplewhite

Kahlil focuses his work as an author, life coach, and college advisor on the youth of African descent who may be part of the criminal or family court system or aging out of foster care, preparing for college, or struggling with their sexual identity. He is an Educator at Nubian Directions in Poughkeepsie.

He has degrees in Secondary Education and Applied Psychology and is an accomplished poet and essayist, and the author of the author four books, including Message to a Youngblood: A Conversation with Our Sons. He’s working on his next book, this one about youth aging out of foster care. He was born in Brooklyn, grew up in France, and was raised in Montreal.

More on Kahlil: http://www.kahlil-koromantee.com

Robin is Director of Training at CSWAC.  Raised in the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), Robin has had a lifelong concern for racial justice and equity.  Robin’s anti-racist activism has taken a variety of forms, including study of books, films, and lectures; taking part in workshops, seminars and trainings; publishing essays, articles and reports; public speaking; facilitating community dialogue; designing and leading workshops; and community organizing. Robin has worked with several anti-racism organizations in her hometown and in the Quaker community, including mixed-race groups and two white caucus groups. She maintains ties with anti-racist leaders, both white and of color, who have served as long-term mentors.

More on Robin: http://www.euroamerican.org

Paul is Assistant Professor of English at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York. His areas of expertise are twentieth century American literature and African American studies. (Disclaimer: Paul does not speak for the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Maritime Administration, or the U.S. Department of Transportation.)

He is the editor of Murray Talks Music: Albert Murray on Jazz and Blues (University of Minnesota Press, 2016), and Rifftide: The Life and Opinions of Papa Jo Jones (University of Minnesota Press, 2011), a finalist for the Jazz Journalists Association’s book award in 2012. He is a co-editor (with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.) of the Library of America’s definitive two-volume edition of Albert Murray’s work Essays and Memoirs, 2016 and Novels and Poems, 2018. Paul’s writing has appeared in publications such as Slate, San Francisco Chronicle, The New York Times Book Review, Bomb Magazine, The Nation, The Wall Street Journal, and Popular Mechanics, as well as in scholarly journals.

Paul has been a consultant for Jazz at Lincoln Center, the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, and the American Writers Museum in Chicago. He is the Book Review Editor of African American Review (Johns Hopkins University Press).

More on Paul: http://www.paul-devlin.com/