Greetings People!

It was an ordinary workday in October 2020. I was opening my email when I came across one that had been forwarded 2-3 times before finding its way into my inbox. 

I opened and read the contents that described a collaborative scholarship project. This project was inclusive and accessible. The call for research and publication was expressly directed to assist professionals of color - faculty, staff, and administrators from all disciplines - to publish.

Knowing I had little time to take on additional professional work, the collaborative and inclusive foundation of the work described in the email had my attention. The ability to serve as a platform for collaborative scholarship produced by a diverse collection of Black and Brown professionals - well - that, too, had my attention. 

I replied to the email. I offered to help with one task. After talking with David Arendale, the person who sent the initial email, I found myself with the opportunity to support this public scholarship as a co-convener. 

In December 2020, my first CCSJ co-convener task was to introduce myself to the newly formed network of nearly 50 colleagues from across the US. To escape the constraints of the page, I hastily made a video. 

• What it lacks in polish, I hope it delivers in enthusiasm for the promise of collective, collaborative, inclusive educational public scholarship published with rigor and dignity that honors the fact that every person deserves educational policies and practices that gives them access to literacy and advanced educational skills. 

-- Summum bonum & Ubuntu
Mursalata Muhammad,
Co-Convener
Colleagues of Color for Social Justice