Charis welcomes author Dr. Jayme Canty for a panel discussion of her book, Snapping Beans: Voices of a Black Queer Lesbian South with Dr. Stephanie Y. Evans, Dr. La’Neice Littleton, Forrest Evans, and Monica C. Evans. Together they will explore the role of the South in Black queer lesbian experiences of hurting and healing. This event is co-sponsored by ZAMI NOBLA headquartered in Atlanta, which is the leading Advocacy organization dedicated to empowering Black lesbians over the age of 40.

Snapping Beans offers a collective narrative of Southern queer lesbian women and gender-nonconforming persons. Throughout the text, the American South acts as both a region and a main character, one that can shame and condemn but also serve as a site of reconciliation. Blending autoethnography and oral histories, Jayme N. Canty explores how both geographic location and social spaces, such as the Church, intersect with categories such as race, gender, and sexuality to shape and mark identity. Just as the intergenerational practice of snapping beans provides an opportunity to slow down, Canty enables readers to make space and to hear a new Southern narrative. Filled with both hurt and healing, Snapping Beans chronicles a multivocal journey of coming out, ultimately revealing a South where Black queer lesbians not only live but also, more importantly, thrive.

Dr. Jayme Canty (she/her) is a humanities scholar and oral history scholar who amplifies marginalized voices in her research, teaching, and activist service. She is an intersectional humanities scholar-activist with a focus on the experiences of Black women and Black queer persons living in or from the American South. Her work intends to humanize the experiences of marginalized Southern Black persons. Her research focuses on the collective narrative of how the American South shapes and molds the experiences of Southern Black queer lesbian women and persons. She has presented at several conferences about her research, such as Women’s Gender, and Sexuality Studies South (WGS South), National Council of Black Studies (NCBS), and National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA). In 2022, she was appointed as a board member of WGS South, working as the Black Indigenous Persons of Color (BIPOC) Caucus chair. Her current research chronicles the collective narrative of Southern Black queer lesbian women and gender non-conforming persons, uncovering how the American (US) South, particularly the Christian Black Church, shapes and molds their lived experiences. Her forthcoming manuscript, Snapping Beans: Voices of a Black Queer Lesbian South, outlines the ways the South informs their intersectional identities. She is currently a professor at her alma mater, Clark Atlanta University.

Stephanie Y. Evans, PhD is a Professor of Black Women's Studies (WGSS & AAS) at Georgia State University. She served as department chair for twelve consecutive years at Georgia State University, Clark Atlanta University, and University of Florida but also maintained her passion for research in the area of Black women's historical wellness. Her areas of focus are Black women's intellectual history, memoirs, and mental health. She is author and editor of nine books. Her single-authored works include, Black Feminist Writing: A Practical Guide to Publishing Academic Books(SUNY 2024), Black Women's Yoga History: Memoirs of Inner Peace (SUNY  2021), and Black Women in the Ivory Tower, 1850-1954: An Intellectual History (UF 2007). She is lead co-editor of five books including, Dear Department Chair: Letters from Black Women to the Next Generation of Leaders (Wayne State 2023), Black Women and Public Health: Strategies to Name, Locate, and Change Systems of Power (SUNY 2022) and Black Women's Mental Health: Balancing Strength and Vulnerability (SUNY  2017). At GSU, Professor Evans is also affiliate faculty in the Center for the Study of Stress, Trauma, and Resilience. Evans highlights life writing and Black women’s traditions of collective self-care as sustainable models for human rights and social justice. Her full profile is online at www.professorevans.net

Dr. La’Neice Littleton is originally from Denver, Colorado and has been living in Atlanta for nearly 15 years. She holds a Ph.D. in Humanities with concentrations in African American Studies and History and a master’s degree in African American Studies from Clark Atlanta University, as well as a bachelor’s degree in Ethnic Studies from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Following her doctoral studies, she was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Public Humanities and African American Life at Clemson University, where she worked on the Call My Name Project and African American Burial Ground at Woodland Cemetery Project. Dr. Littleton has taught multiple courses in Humanities, History, and African American Studies at institutions such as Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, and Agnes Scott College. She is a member of the National Council for Black Studies and the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. As a public historian specializing in community engagement, Dr. Littleton works to provide community members access to gathering and preserving history in a myriad of ways which include museum tours, developing exhibitions, conducting and supporting oral history projects, participating in community-based preservation projects, and conducting community presentations and workshops.

Forrest Evans is a licensed, Atlanta-based lesbian librarian. As an HBCU grad and continuing her mother's Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. legacy-- she is committed to community. She now works in sports and tech for Warner Brothers Discovery. Evans is also the Logistics Coordinator of Gaye Magazine—the largest editorial and news source for Black Queer voices.She has primarily worked in academia and special libraries from Columbus State University, the Tubman African American Museum, Satilla Regional Library System, South Georgia State College, Fort Valley State University, the University of Alabama, and Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System."Favorite Librarian" is her blooming platform that solely circulates Black and Queer Literature and Resources. From continuous collaborations with Harper Collins, ECCO Books, Source Books, and more-- she enjoys contributing to academic circles and public spaces for Black and Queer healing, growth, expression, rest, joy, and learning.

Monica C. Evans is a 4th-year Humanities PhD student at Clark Atlanta University. Monica’s research includes literary and political analysis of Science Fiction and Fantasy novels, film and television, and social media in popular culture. She has written using various Pan-African theories, including Womanism, Afrofuturism, Negritude, Adaptation, digital and literary culture, liberation, revolution, and consciousness. Monica is a current fellow in the CAU Center for Africana Digital Humanities program, where she assists with developing faculty and graduate student workshops, curricula development, and additional programming. Monica holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Master of Divinity from Emory University. Before re-entering academia, Monica has a long career in city and county government, non-profit leadership, and community development.

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