Ibram X. Kendi is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University and the founding director of the BU Center for Antiracist Research. He is a contributing writer at The Atlantic and a CBS News correspondent. He is the author of many books, including Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, which won the National Book Award for Nonfiction, and five #1 New York Times bestsellers, including How to Be an Antiracist; Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, coauthored with Jason Reynolds; and Antiracist Baby, illustrated by Ashley Lukashevsky. His latest books are How to Raise an Antiracist and Goodnight Racism, illustrated by Cbabi Bayoc. In 2020, Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. He was awarded a 2021 MacArthur Fellowship, popularly known as the “Genius Grant.”

The #1 New York Times bestseller that sparked international dialogue is now a book for young adults! Based on the adult bestseller by Ibram X. Kendi, and co-authored by bestselling author Nic Stone (see next), How to be a (Young) Antiracist will serve as a guide for teens seeking a way forward in acknowledging, identifying, and dismantling racism and injustice.

Nic Stone is an Atlanta native and a Spelman College graduate. Her debut novel for young adults, Dear Martin, was a #1 New York Times bestseller. She is also the author of the New York Times bestseller Clean Getaway, the 2020 NPR Best Book of the Year selection Dear Justyce (a sequel to Dear Martin), the Rainbow Book List Top Ten selection Odd One Out, Jackpot, and Shuri: A Black Panther Novel. She is one of the authors in the New York Times bestselling book, Blackout, recently optioned as a new anthology program for Netflix by Barack and Michelle Obama’s production company, Higher Ground. Find her online at nicstone.info, @nicstone (Instagram), and @getnicced (Twitter).

Join us for an uplifting evening led by author and artist, Yuyi Morales. In her most recent children’s picture book, Bright Star in English and Lucero in Spanish, one beautiful line reads: “No matter where you are, you are a bright star inside our hearts.” / “Dondequiera que estés, eres un lucero en nuestros corazones”. Let us gather under the theme’s lighthouse imagery to share in the joy and love of sharing our light with each other—teacher to teacher, NCTE member to NCTE member. Every attendee is invited to this event. NCTE provides food and beverages alongside programming that’s sure to be treasured for years to come. This is an excellent opportunity to meet new colleagues and to enjoy an evening with those treasured people already within your professional community.

Born in Xalapa, Mexico, where she currently resides, New York Times bestselling author and illustrator, Yuyi Morales, lived for many years in the San Francisco Bay area, where she still maintains close relations with booksellers and librarians. Professional storyteller, dancer, choreographer, puppeteer, and artist, she has won the prestigious Pura Belpré Award for Illustration six times, for Dreamers (2019), Just a Minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting Book (2003), Los Gatos Black on Halloween (2006), Just in Case: A Trickster Tale and Spanish Alphabet Book (2008), Niño Wrestles the World (2013), and Viva Frida (2014), also a Caldecott Honor Book. Her book Bright Star garnered a 2022 Pura Belpré Honor.

Seema Yasmin is an Emmy Award-winning journalist, medical doctor, professor, and poet. She is the author of five books, including a poetry collection,  If God Is a Virus, which was voted one of the Best Books of 2021 by The New York Public Library, and Viral BS: Medical Myths and Why We Fall for Them, which tells her own history of growing up a conspiracy theorist before becoming a debunker of myths. In Muslim Women Are Everything: Stereotype-Shattering Stories of Courage, Inspiration, and Adventure (Harper Design), published in April 2020, Yasmin reframes how the world sees Muslim women, to reveal everything they CAN do and the incredible, stereotype-shattering ways they are doing it. She is also the author of What the Fact: Finding the Truth in All the Noise, a timely book about the importance of media literacy.

Yasmin is director of the Stanford Health Communication Initiative, clinical assistant professor in Stanford University’s Department of Medicine, and visiting assistant professor at the Anderson School of Management at UCLA where she teaches crisis management and crisis communications. She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in breaking news in 2017 with a team from The Dallas Morning News for coverage of a mass shooting. After training in medicine at the University of Cambridge, Yasmin served as an officer in the Epidemic Intelligence Service at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where she investigated outbreaks in prisons, hospitals, reservations, and other settings. She trained in journalism at the University of Toronto and worked as a staff writer at The Dallas Morning News covering Ebola’s arrival in Texas.  

Andrea Wang is the award-winning author of Watercress, illustrated by Jason Chin, which Kirkus called “understated, deep, and heart rending” in a starred review. She is also the author of The Nian Monster and Magic Ramen: The Story of Momofuku Ando as well as the forthcoming middle-grade novel, The Many Meanings of Meilan. Andrea holds an MS in Environmental Science and an MFA in Creative Writing for Young People. She lives in Colorado with her family.

Jason Chin is a celebrated author and illustrator of children’s books. He received the Caldecott Medal for his illustrations in Andrea Wang’s Watercress, a Newbery Honor book and APALA award winner. His book Grand Canyon was awarded a Caldecott Honor, a Sibert Honor, and the NCTE Orbis Pictus Award. His other acclaimed nonfiction titles—Coral Reefs, Redwoods, Gravity, and Island: A Story of the Galapagos—have received numerous starred reviews and other accolades. He is also the illustrator of Stephanie Parsley Ledyard’s debut title Pie Is for Sharing and Miranda Paul’s Water Is Water and Nine Months: Before a Baby Is Born, the latter a Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor Book. He lives in Vermont with his wife and children.

Nellie Scott holds her degree in Art History from Portland State University and Szeged University in Hungary, focusing on Indigenous Art and Social Practice. With art accessibility as a pillar of all of her professional endeavors, Scott has spent the last decade developing exhibitions and art education initiatives geared toward democratizing art engagement. Prior to holding the position of Director at the Corita Art Center, she served as an independent consultant and art advisor for a variety of public and private foundations, institutions, artists, and estates. With an entrepreneurial spirit, Scott has a history of building nonprofits and businesses successfully to meet mission and service. She currently serves on the Board of Councilors for the University of Southern California Roski School of Art and Design.

Sponsored by the Corita Art Center, Los Angeles, CA

When she immigrated to the US at the age of nine, Reyna Grande was made to feel ashamed about being a border crosser. Now, being a border crosser is her superpower. Grande will speak about the many borders, both physical and metaphorical, she had to cross to succeed in the US, from becoming the first in her family to go to university to having a successful writing career. By pursuing her sueños—her dreams—she went from being an undocumented immigrant living on the margins of society to an award-winning author of bestselling books such as The Distance Between Us and A Dream Called Home.

Sponsored by Simon & Schuster

All students should feel like they belong in school. In this session, participants will consider the needs
of migratory students and explore three social-emotional components necessary for equity: agency,
belonging, and identity. Participants will engage in an interactive reading with a culturally relevant text and
discuss key takeaways.

Sponsored by WestEd

Long-term English Learners lack adequate opportunities to develop language and literacy in secondary
mathematics. The IES-funded RAMP-UP Math project engages students to develop conceptual
understandings about cross-cutting ideas, participation in disciplinary practices, and disciplinary literacy
and oracy. Educators will learn how to design language rich mathematics instruction for English Learners.

Sponsored by WestEd

This session considers the unique social-emotional needs of migratory students and how
educators can develop student agency, identity, and sense of belonging. Participants will
consider how social-emotional practices mitigate barriers to achievement, and how a classroom
centered on equity can create a sense of community, acceptance, and affirmation.

Sponsored by WestEd

English and multilingual learners must have instructional opportunities that engage them in
quality interactions. Well-structured learning that engages students in rigorous tasks, analytical
thinking, and generative discussions are essential for learning that promotes social well-being,
disciplinary knowledge, and language development. This session will explore how schools can
promote quality interactions.

Sponsored by WestEd

In this presentation, board members from the California Association of Teacher of English
(CATE) will share the history of CATE and its work over the last 60+ years to keep English
language arts teachers involved in the issues and concerns they face in the classroom. From
the relationship of local-area councils to the implementation of an annual statewide convention, board members will share what they do in California for CATE members. A Q&A session
will include sharing advice with other state affiliates.

Sponsored by the California Association of Teachers of English