Shonda Buchanan is the author of Black Indian, a tale of a mixed race Midwest family caught in bi-ethnic and tri-ethnic identity crises, and an award-winning poet and educator. Buchanan is editor of Harriet Tubman Press. She teaches creative writing and composition at Loyola Marymount University and Otis College.

Chris L. Terry is the author of the novels Black Card and Zero Fade, which received a starred review from Kirkus, which called it, "Original, hilarious, thought provoking, and wicked smart. Not to be missed."

F. Douglas Brown is the author of two poetry collections: ICON and Zero to Three, winner of the 2013 Cave Canem Poetry Prize. He also co-authored Begotten with poet Geffrey Davis. Brown is both a Cave Canem and Kundiman fellow, and he teaches literature at Loyola High School of Los Angeles.

Janet Stickmon is a professor of humanities and the author of Crushing Soft Rubies, Midnight Peaches, Two O'Clock Patience, and To Black Parents Visiting Earth. Stickmon’s essay "Blackapina" has been featured in Red and Yellow, Black and Brown: Decentering Whiteness in Mixed Race Studies.

Luis J. Rodriguez was named Poet Laureate of Los Angeles in 2014. He is the author of fifteen books across a number of genres. He has been the recipient of a PEN West/Josephine Miles Award and a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. He serves as founding editor of Tia Chucha Press and cofounder and president of Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural and Bookstore in California.