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W. KAMAU BELL
W. Kamau Bell is a stand-up comedian, director, producer, and dad. For seven seasons, he was the host and executive producer of the five-time Emmy Award-winning CNN docuseries United Shades of America. Kamau won a Peabody Award for his Showtime docuseries We Need To Talk About Cosby. He is also the co-author of the New York Times bestselling book Do The Work: An Antiracist Activity Book. His first book was his memoir with the easy-to-remember title: The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell: Tales of a 6' 4", African American, Heterosexual, Cisgender, Left-Leaning, Asthmatic, Black and Proud Blerd, Mama's Boy, Dad, and Stand-Up Comedian. Recently, Kamau directed and produced the HBO documentary 1000% Me: Growing Up Mixed. As a stand-up comic, Kamau has recorded two comedy specials. The second one, Private School Negro, is available on Netflix. Kamau is on the board of directors of DonorsChoose—a non-profit that helps teachers raise money for class projects, and Live Free—a non-profit dedicated to ending gun violence, mass incarceration, and mass criminalization. Kamau also is the ACLU’s Celebrity Ambassador for Racial Justice. He lives in Oakland, California. He cares a lot… maybe too much.
LINDY WEST
Lindy West is the author of three books: the New York Times bestselling memoir Shrill as well as the essay collections The Witches Are Coming and Shit, Actually. Lindy is a former contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, and her work has appeared in This American Life, The Guardian, Cosmopolitan, GQ, Vulture, Jezebel, among others. She is the co-host of the comedy podcast Text Me Back and the author of the e-mail newsletter Butt News. Lindy was a writer and executive producer on Shrill, the Hulu comedy adapted from her memoir, and she co-wrote and produced the independent feature film Thin Skin. She lives on the Olympic Peninsula in rural Washington state.
OKAIDJA AFROSO
Internationally acclaimed singer, percussionist, guitarist, and dancer Okaidja Afroso creates modern African music that effortlessly flows between tradition and innovation; He “is an artist with staying power.” (Afropop Worldwide) With roots in the traditions of the Ga-Dangme people of Ghana and a spirit shaped by decades of global travel and collaboration, he invites audiences into a celebration of humanity’s shared rhythms with music that defies borders. An artist who “sings about cycles of nature and human life… his music exults in modern technology and cultural fusions.” (The New York Times) Okaidja’s work is at once deeply rooted in heritage and fearlessly contemporary. His sound—a spicy, rhythmic blend of indigenous traditions, ambient textures, and what he calls “Afro-Zeng”—channels the primal pulse of African percussion through the lens of a modern global citizen with expansive influences.