Melissa McHenry

Bio

Melissa McHenry, she/her, is an educator who believes that Students of Color, Multilingual Learners, LGBTQI+ students, Students with Disabilities and other students whose brilliance and ways of knowing have been othered by the ideological state apparatus deserve to be taught by folks committed to disrupting inequity. She began teaching in 2004 and has facilitated learning for students in grades 7-12, teachers, school and district leaders, and university-based teacher educators. A native of Far Rockaway, NY, and a perpetual beach baby, Melissa honors her ancestors along the shores of the Atlantic. She is a pastor in the African Methodist Episcopal Church who was also initiated to Oshun in the Afro-Brazilian tradition of Candomblé-Ketu. Melissa holds a BA in English from Queens College, CUNY; a Master of Arts in Teaching from Brown University; and a Master of Divinity in Social Justice Advocacy with a concentration in Africana and African American Religion from Drew Theological School. Her focus on Afro-Diasporic religiosity explores interfaith expressions of worship in Black cultures separated by space and time.