The Mis/Education of Black Intellects: Havens of Resistance and Rhetorical Mapping

Meet The Speaker

• Kelly Franklin

  Ph.D. Candidate

  Texas Christian University

  Kelly Franklin is a doctoral candidate in English Rhetoric and Composition at Texas Christian University. Her research interests include Black girlhood, Black Feminist Theory and Pedagogy, Anti‑Racist Pedagogy, and First‑Year Writing Composition. Kelly holds a B.A. in American Literature from UCLA and an M.A. in English Literature from Boise State University. She has extensive teaching experience across high schools, community colleges, and universities, and has served in instructional coaching and literacy specialist roles. A committed youth advocate for Black and Brown students, Kelly’s community work includes founding STILE (Storytelling Thru Inquiry and Literacy Expression), an after‑school initiative that cultivates a safe space for high school Black girls and empowers their voices through storytelling and literacy practices. Outside academia, she is a wife and mother of four.

• Chris Atkins Jr.

  Ph.D. Student

  Texas Christian University

  Christopher Atkins Jr. is a Ph.D. student in Rhetoric and Composition at Texas Christian University, where he also earned his M.A. in English with a focus on cultural rhetorics. His research centers Black communicative practices and Hip Hop Nation Language, exploring rhetorical drift across diasporic and sacred-secular borders. His master's thesis, From Born Jamericans to Boogiemonsters, offered a multimodal rhetorical analysis of Caribbean and African American linguistic hybridity in 1990s Hip Hop. A second-generation Jamaican American and active contributor to Black digital archives, Atkins blends creative and scholarly approaches in both his research and teaching. As an Assistant Adjunct Professor at UT Arlington, he fosters inclusive, student-centered learning environments that emphasize multimodal communication, critical inquiry, and cultural awareness. His pedagogy bridges theory and practice, empowering students to explore language and identity within complex cultural contexts.

• Alexis J. Davis

  Writer / Poet / Graduate Student

  Texas Christian University

  Alexis J. Davis (she/her) is a writer, poet, and graduate student at Texas Christian University pursuing her master’s degree in English. Her research interests explore Black women’s literacies and cartographic practices through Black aesthetics and Hip-Hop rhetorical frameworks. Davis is designing a digital zine titled, Ode to FIRE!!: The Poetics of the Black Renaissance, which celebrates the cultural and artistic revivals of Black peoples, while identifying and honoring her community in this era. She is expected to present, “Blues & Maroons: Black Women’s Rhetorical Geographies,” at the Conference of Community Writing 2025 on interrogating Black women's writing practices to explore alternative ways of beings, and examine the spatial-temporal location of Davis's black body that challenges how predominantly white academic spaces are mapped and interpreted.

• Deja Groomes

  Graduate Student

  Texas Christian University

  Deja Groomes is a graduate student in the Department of English at Texas ChristianUniversity. Deja’s research interests include African American Literature, with focus areas in Black Girlhood Studies, Black Feminisms, and Black Speculation. Through her research, Deja is interested in centering the self-theorizing and speculative world-making practices of Black girlhood and Black daughterhood in literature.

• Victoria M. Washington

  Ph.D. Student

  Texas Christian University

  Victoria M. Washington is a PhD student of English at Texas Christian University and a graduate of Tougaloo College and Jackson State University. Her work has appeared in the Women’s Review of Books, New Area Studies, and Callaloo. She has received local recognition for her poetry and has earned a nomination for “Best Screenplay/Script” in the 2025 JXN Film Festival for her original script  Lou -“Devil in a Jug”. Her research and creative works interrogate gender and Blackness in an American context and explore the myriad ways that people experience reality. When she isn’t writing or reading, she enjoys dancing and trying new recipes in her kitchen. Above all she is a lover of Yahweh and centers her life, both professional and otherwise, around her relationship with God.