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, co-authored 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."
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 for as a new anthology program for Netflix by Barack and Michelle Obama's production company, Higher Ground.