Dr. Aiesha Turman: Educator, Writer, Cultural Producer

Aiesha Turman, Ph.D. is a Black feminist Afrofuturist — writing, researching, teaching and creating at the intersections of Black futurism, protest theory, metaphysics, and Black feminist thought. As a Reiki Master Teacher, she utilizes the framework of the century-old modality and Bantu-Kongo cosmology and philosophy to explore the ability of literature and cultural productions by Black women, throughout time and the diaspora, to aid in individual and community healing.

In 2010, she founded The Black Girl Project after writing, directing, and producing the award-winning documentary of the same name. After creating and facilitating Black woman and-femme centered programs throughout the mid-Atlantic region, organizing an annual Sisterhood Summit for 7 seasons, which hosted facilitators and educators from across the country, and served over 3,000 participants, she has shifted gears (after resting) and is committed to a social art and education practice…For Black women and girls who need to remember who they are when the acculturation and lies get to be too much.

As she works, Dr. Turman develops research pockets, micro sites that allow her to gather information and ideas. Here are a few examples:

• Goddess: Past, Present & Future
• Reclaiming Geechee: Process & Praxis
• Afro Folk Futurisms

Dr. Turman is currently serving as faculty in the Africana Studies Department of Nassau Community College.

A Bit of Dr. Turman’s Work

• Curriculum co-writer for Crip Camp, the Oscar-nominated and Peabody Award winning documentary film
• Selected for publication in Tamara Winfrey Harris’ Dear Black Girl
• Co-writer and voice actor for The Weeksville Project, an audio drama
• Founder and facilitator of The Black Girl Project
• She Who Does it for Herself, Raising Mothers
• My Awesome Queer Black Mom on Ebony.com
• Academia Edu page
• Ante Up! advisory team

A Bit About Dr. Turman

• Three-Time Humanities NY Reading And Discussion Grant Awardee
• Mama’s Writing, a profile on Raising Mothers
• Profile of a student trip I coordinated to the National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Awarded a Barnard College Library Research Award
• 2015 Culture Push Fall Fellow

Download Dr. Turman’s CV here.