Thrive Black Boy: Nurturing the Mental Health of Black Male Adolescents

About the panelists:

Dr. Raymond Arnold Winbush a.k.a. Tikari Bioko is an American scholar and activist known for his systems-thinking approaches to understanding the impact of racism/white supremacy on the global African community. He is currently Research Professor and Director of the Institute for Urban Research at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland. Winbush appeared as race relations expert on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2005.[1] His books, The Warrior Method: A Program for Rearing Healthy Black Boys[3] and Should America Pay? Slavery and The Raging Debate on Reparations were published in 2001 and 2003 respectively. Belinda's Petition: A Concise History of Reparations For The Transatlantic Slave Trade, is described as a short introduction to the history of reparations for the European enslavement of Africans (XLibris, 2009),[4] and is considered a "prequel" to Should America Pay?: Slavery and the Raging Debate on Reparations, and provides an overview of how reparations for the TransAtlantic Slave Trade has been a consistent theme among African people for the past 500 years. His latest book, The Osiris Papers: Reflections on the Life and Writings of Dr. Frances Cress Welsing is a discussion by several authors on the Black psychiatrist Dr. Frances Cress Welsing and her theory of why there is racism/white supremacy. It was published by Black Classic Press in 2020.

Buy The Warrior Method, Updated Edition: A Parents' Guide to Rearing Healthy Black Boys

Brennan Allan Steele is a believer, educator, and writer currently residing in Memphis, TN. Throughout his own healing journey, he has become passionate about mental and emotional health, particularly that of black boys and men.

Buy breathe.: a guided healing journal for black men

Dr. Jeffery Menzise is an associate professor at the Institute for Urban Research. He is a graduate of both Fisk and Howard Universities, receiving advanced training and degrees in clinical psychology. As former Director of the Academic Success Center at Fisk, Menziseʼs responsibilities included: Directorship of the Campus Counseling Center, Student Disability Services, and the HBCU Wellness Project.

He has provided clinical trainings (Wal-Mart, Trial Lawyers College, NBCDI, Meharry Medical College) and has taught at Tennessee State University, Fisk University and Howard University. Internationally he has worked with: The Songhai Project (Benin), Ministries of Education (St. Kitts & Nevis, Gambia), West African Examination Council - WAEC (Gambia, Ghana), and the Oxford Roundtable (England). Dr. Menzise is a Kettering Foundation Public Scholar, and has authored and co-authored articles in journals, encyclopedias, and five books (Dumbin' Down: Reflections on the Mis-Education of the Negro, Rambling Ruminations: Rare Writings from the Collection of J.A. Rogers, African Heritage Playing Cards Series: Vodoun Veve (with accompanying cards), African Heritage Playing Cards Series: Adinkra Affirmations (with accompanying playing cards), and Symbolically Speaking: African Lodge #1 (July, 2015)).

He is a skilled mindfulness meditation expert, and a qi gong/yoga instructor. He has recently completed data collection for a study focusing on how meditation impacts academic performance.

Buy Dumbin' Down: Reflections on the MIS-Education of the Negro