Panelists for Naming racism and racial justice session 

Sade Anderson-Brown, Ph.D. is a mother, birth worker, scholar, organizer, and racial equity consultant. Sade has been a part of social and racial justice movements including prison abolition, birth justice, as well as food justice and food sovereignty over the last 15 years. Dr. Anderson-Brown has a Bachelor's degree in History with a concentration in Pan African Studies from the Historically Black College, Bowie State University, a Master's Degree in Africana Studies from Cornell University, and a Doctoral Degree in Anthropology with a focus on African Diaspora Studies from the University of Texas at Austin.  Sade's PhD dissertation on food apartheid experienced by Black residents in Wards 7&8 allowed her to combine her belief in the power of African Diasporic foodways with her understanding of our racialized food system and its effects on Black communities' well-being. Sade is part of the COEP Action Team, a group of 12 food system disrupters who launched the Blueprint for Community Ownership, Empowerment & Prosperity  guidelines for food justice and sovereignty in the Chesapeake Region.  As a member of Black Dirt Farm Collective, Sade helps to promote Afro-ecology, a methodology that assists in reconnecting Black communities to land, food, and healing. As a racial equity consultant Dr. Anderson-Brown supports organizations on their journey to naming and dismantling the many forms of oppression that exist under the system of white supremacy within ourselves, our communities, institutions, and society.  

Battalion Chief Tiffanye Wesley, is a long-time firefighter and the first female African American Deputy Fire Chief in the Arlington County Fire Department’s 71-year history, as well as the first in Northern Virginia . she has served in numerous positions within the department. The most notable positions were a Nationally Certified Bomb Technician and Bomb Commander, Station Commander for the largest and busiest firehouse in Arlington, and Acting Fire/EMS Battalion Chief from December 2016-June 2017.

Pastor Chenda Innis Lee is Associate Pastor at Fairlington United Methodist Church.  A gifted preacher and teacher, she has served as an associate and senior pastor of churches in the Northern Virginia region of the Virginia Annual Conference. Her ministry is deeply influenced by Jesus’ message of inclusion for those on the margins of society and a desire for all God’s people to live fully and freely in the abundance of God’s grace. A native of Liberia, West Africa, she came to the United States when she was sixteen after surviving Liberia’s civil war.  She and her husband, Asa, met during their time at Wesley Theological Seminary. Their lives revolve around four spirited daughters and ministry with God’s people.