(Moderator) Troy Johnson is the founder of the African American Literature Book Club (AALBC) and President of AALBC.com, LLC. His contributions and dedication have made a significant impact in platforming Black writers, authors, and literary professionals to showcase their work and share their stories. By highlighting their voices, he has helped promote diverse perspectives and narratives that may otherwise be overlooked or underrepresented in mainstream literary spaces. Johnson’s efforts to celebrate Black culture and history through literature play a vital role in preserving and promoting the rich legacy of Black literature. By curating and promoting books by Black authors, he ensures that these works are recognized, valued, and made accessible to readers worldwide.

Dr. Julius Garvey MD, FACS, FRCS is an accomplished surgeon and lecturer with an over fifty-year tenure in the medical field spanning New York, Canada, and Jamaica. He has served, led, and taught at top medical institutions and universities including Columbia University’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Monetfiore Health, Queens Hospital Center, and Long Island Jewish Medical Center, among others. He has served as an annual presenter for the Global Health Catalyst Summit since 2016. In recent years, Dr. Garvey lectures on the life and legacy of his father, The Right Excellent Marcus Mosiah Garvey. He also continues to work to secure an exoneration for his father who was falsely charged and convicted of mail fraud by the United States government. Dr. Garvey resides in Florida with his wife.

Diane Richards is the Executive Director of the Harlem Writers Guild. She is a novelist, playwright and producer. Her play, Sowa’s Red Gravy, was produced and directed by Woodie King Jr. of the New Federal Theater. The New York Times called it “an irresistible, lusty celebration of passions.” Richards’ debut novel, Ella, is a reimagined novelization of Ella Fitzgerald’s life (Harper Collins/Amistad, May 2024).

Paul Coates is founder of The Black Classic Press, devoted to publishing obscure and significant works by and about people of African descent. He specializes in republishing works that are out of print and quite often out of memory. Coates extends the memory of meaningful books that shape the Black diasporic experience and our understanding of the world.

Goulda A. Downer, PhD, RD, LN, CNS, FAND is an Associate Professor in the College of Medicine at Howard University. She is at the helm of the Howard University Telehealth Training Center which includes the federally funded Center of Excellence Scholars Program and the Caribbean Clinicians Community of Practice HIV/HCV workforce strengthening program in 26 Caribbean Islands. She has designed and directed several multi-million-dollar HIV workforce strengthening programs of national significance over the past two decades. A recognized expert in the field of nutrition and food security, she has served as senior advisor for USAID and expert consultant to the Department of Justice. Her portfolio has expanded to include Emergency Disaster Preparedness and Management. She is the immediate past President of the Caribbean-American Political Action Committee and the current Board Chair. Under her leadership, she expanded the Marcus Garvey exoneration efforts to a global one with support from 5 continents to gather the one hundred thousand signatures needed for the White House to consider Garvey’s exoneration.

Safiya Parker-Norman, JD is a senior trial attorney in the New York Law department. Parker-Norman has been heading grass roots federal legal efforts toward the posthumous exoneration of Marcus Mosiah Garvey in partnership with her several affiliations including: The Innocence Project and the Association of Black Women Attorneys (ABWA).

Dr. Ayo Sekai is the founder and CEO of Universal Write Publications, an international social science publisher focused in Black and African-centered works. Dr. Sekai is a Fulbright Specialist, and HBCU alum with research specializations in Black Politics and International Relations. She examines how language is used to impact political agenda, rhetoric, and policies that later become regulated through the legal system, therefore perpetuating policing of the Black body, inequity, inequality, and marginalization, reflected in her research on Linguistic Imperialism and political dog whistle politics embedded to promote structural racism. As an author, inspirational and motivational speaker with more than 20 years in the publishing/print industry, Dr. Sekai provides professional writing, lectures, and engagement to academic institutions interested in strengthening and preparing students of color to publish early while centering their narratives within the various theories and methods that impact Black scholarship.