Reanae McNeal

Reanae McNeal, PhD, is an award-winning international educator, speaker, storyteller, playwright, performing/visual artist, oral (her)storian, cultural activist, and minister. Dr. McNeal promotes social change, advances cross-cultural understanding, cultivates reparative and restorative justice, and fosters the healing of deep wounds through radical love and transformation. She delves into individual, generational, societal, and historical trauma in transformative ways. McNeal’s research-based creative work and scholarly endeavors courageously address such topics as marginalized (her)stories, interlocking oppression, multilayered violence, decolonialism, diversity, resiliency, spirituality, and healing, even as she delves into her own life as an integral part of her work.

As a storyteller, she weaves together cultural stories, including from her rich heritages, and plays over twenty traditional African and Native instruments. McNeal’s presentations address diverse women’s lived experiences and social issues such as African American women and rape/sexual assault, varied domestic violence survivors’ experiences, Afro Indigenous women’s stories, and global women’s activism. Dr. McNeal has transformed communities in inspiring ways while addressing societal issues with a keen understanding of the complexity in the human experience.

McNeal is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards such as The Woman of Achievement Award, Catherine Prelinger Award, Black Treasure Award, and NCTE Early Career Educator of Color Leadership Award. McNeal participated in the U.N. Parallel Forum to the 59th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women about the implementation of the first Black Women’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission against Sexual Assault in the U.S. She is currently Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Diversity Studies (Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies, Africana Studies, American Indian Studies, and American Studies).