Kim Gallon is an associate professor of Africana Studies at Brown University. She is the author of Pleasure in the News: African American Readership and Sexuality in the Black Press. test

E. James West is a historian based at University College London, and Co-Director of the Black Press Research Collective. He is the author of three books, including A House for the Struggle: The Black Press and the Built Environment in Chicago, and Ebony Magazine and Lerone Bennett Jr.: Popular Black History in Postwar America.

Michael Guy Michael Guy is a fourth year PhD candidate at George Washington University where he is writing his dissertation on historical memory and public museums. He is also a fellow with Black Press Research Collective and the Black Press 200, where he takes on a variety of administrative and research responsibilities.

Rene Payne is a designer, teacher and the director of multidisciplinary design agency included. She uses her design strategy and life experience to break down antiquated social and cultural barriers. Her work spans the marketplace from community organizations to Fortune 500 companies. In addition to receiving numerous design awards over the years, she earned a Lifetime Achievement Award and was inducted into the DesignxRI Hall of Fame in 2012. Rene is the first African American designer to receive this prestigious award, which honored her unique contributions to design on local, national and international levels.

Jon Chen is an artist, creative technologist, and worlder who led the design and engineering of Black Press @ 200 — shaping and collaborating on everything from the Freedom to Create Tool to the interactive reader — while helping think through how the project's many pieces fit together. He is interested in the stars and stories that make us who we are—"They are nothing more than a boy protecting their mango tree."

Cole Mitchell Johnson is a musician, designer, and artist based in Portland, Oregon, and the founder of Barn Radio, a music venue, internet radio, and design studio prioritizing electronic music artists of color. They have released 2 albums to date, “battery” (2020) and “boi” (2023) under their project sqip.

Zoë Pulley (b.1993) is a designer and maker who utilizes stuff to surface the seemingly ordinary stories of Black folks through mixed media, typography, and audio. She defines “stuff” as artifacts both physical and nonphysical that may be relegated as unimportant to some—as merely stuff.

Constance is an illustrative graphic designer specializing in vibrant design, with a deep interest in publishing and book design. She creates captivating visuals across mediums while advocating for meaningful diversity and representation. Through her work, she strives to inspire connection, celebrate diverse voices, and bring color to life.