- Proud DC Resident, Mayfair/Parkside, Ward 7
- Child, Grandchild, and Nephew of Public School Educators
- BA, University of Michigan; PhD, Brown University
- Chair of Political Science, Howard University
- Author, Professor, & Activist
- Immediate Past President, National Association for Ethnic Studies
- Mentee of urban school reform expert
- Mentor with National Teaching Fellows and the Yale National Initiative Teachers’ Institute
- Written 3 books on Black mayors work in Black communities in pluralistic cities
- Openly Gay and HIV+
- Member, Metropolitan AME Church
- Member, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.
- Former President, NAACP, Worcester, MA
- Former Affirmative Action Compliance Officer, ACLU Mississippi
- Founder, Black and Bold LGBTQ Awards, Virginia
- Emerging Scholar, Diverse Issues in Higher Education
- 40 under 40, Advocate Magazine
- 40 under 40, Worcester Business Journal
- Hidden 105, Out Magazine
- Named one of 50 “Hero Citizens” by the Andrew Goodman Foundation for voting rights advocacy
