"I work, I love, I rest, I see and learn. And I report. These are my givens....a firm belief that whether or not living them with joy prolongs my life, it certainly enables me to pursue the objectives of that life with a deeper and more effective clarity." - Audre Lorde
Hello!
My name is Brendane A. Tynes (she/they). I am a queer Black feminist scholar and storyteller from Columbia, South Carolina. These days my practice of living revolves around 4 realms: the academic, the community, the creative, and the spiritual. I used to believe that I could only showcase one side of myself, but increasingly, my task has been to integrate the many facets of my life.
Academic
I received my Bachelor of Arts with Distinction in Cultural Anthropology and a minor in Education from Duke University in 2015 and my Ph.D. in Anthropology from Columbia University in 2023.
My scholarship centers the experiences of Black women, girls, and queer and trans people at the intersection of Black feminist anthropology, Black feminist critical theory, gendered violence, abolition, Black political movements, memory, and affect studies. My dissertation research centered the affective responses of Black women and girls to multiple forms of violence within the Movement for Black Lives and Baltimore’s me too. movement. Broadly, I am interested in the ways that Black people—particularly those of us who have intersecting experiences of oppression—care for ourselves and each other while living through world-annihilating violence.
I am a 2018 Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellow, a 2019 CAETR Foundation grantee, and a 2020 recipient of the Dissertation Fieldwork Grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation.
Community
I am passionate about creating affirming, supportive spaces for all Black women and girls, and that drives my commitment to anti-capitalist, Black feminist anti-oppression work. I have facilitated anti-oppression workshops at Teach For America’s National Institute, Columbia University, Udemy, Inc., and in various teaching positions. I also create customized political education curriculum for organizations and groups focused on anti-oppressive work in the United States and beyond.
What distinguishes my facilitation method from others is my commitment to an abolitionist, survivor-centered Black queer feminist lens. I facilitate workshops on a range of topics: gendered violence interventions, poetry and healing, education, and more.
I am the co-founder and President of the arts and political education nonprofit She is the World, Inc., and the founder of the educational consulting practice Unmatched Insights LLC.
Creative
An integral part of how I live my purpose in this world is through my creative work. You can read my creative writing on Medium and Substack. You can hear my creative voice in two podcasts. I was a co-host of the award-winning Zora’s Daughters Podcast, a Black feminist anthropological take on popular culture and issues that concern Black women, girls, and queer and trans people. I am now the host of black.loved.free, an intimate spiritual-political podcast nestled at the nexus of Black feminist political theory, Black and African indigenous spirituality and healing, and Black liberation.
Spiritual
My spirituality enables and supports my other practices of living. I am a student of African and Black indigenous spirituality, specifically the Black indigenous tradition of Hoodoo and the African indigenous spiritual tradition of Ifa. I am also a certified Reiki II healer and tarot diviner.
I am an intuitive diviner with a strong sense of integrity and deep desire to help Black people live their best lives. I use a caring, Black feminist abolitionist praxis that is situated in disability justice. My readings combine tarot, ancestral, & intuitive spiritual work.
You can book a consultation for a reading with me here.
Photo Credit: Shae McCoy