Jalessa Bryant is a fifth-year doctoral student from San Diego, California. She uses any pronouns said respectfully. Her research focuses on teaching and learning in community-based educational spaces. She is interested in the ways Black media, photography, tv, film, and music serve as methods of storytelling. She is also interested in opportunities to learn about the ways Black people refuse harm and oppression in learning environments. She believes working side by side with communities is required for critical scholarly work and transformative qualitative research.