H. Sharif “Herukhuti” Williams

Faculty, Undergraduate Studies
Residency Site: Plainfield VT

Email: herukhuti.williams@goddard.edu

Biography

H. “Herukhuti” Sharif Williams, PhD, MEd, is a liberatory/decolonizing sociologist, cultural studies scholar, sex educator, playwright, director, poet, filmmaker, and author. He studied sex research, sexology, and sexual health related to HIV at the HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies of the New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University through a National Institute of Mental Health-funded graduate research assistantship. He has held a playwriting fellowship at Lambda Literary Foundation, a National Endowment of the Humanities fellowship in the Black aesthetics and African-Centered cultural expressions at Emory University, and a filmmaking fellowship at Third World Newsreel. He is a member of the editorial boards of Journal of Bisexuality and Journal of Black Sexuality and Relationships. He co-edited Recognize: The Voices of Bisexual Men and Sexuality, Religion, and the Sacred: Bisexual, Pansexual, and Polysexual Perspectives. He is a recipient of the PFLAG Brenda Howard Memorial Award for his bisexual public policy advocacy and activism. He is executive producer and co-director of the forthcoming documentary film, “No Homo | No Hetero: Sexual Fluidity and Manhood in Black America.”

Education

PhD in Human and Organizational Systems, Fielding Graduate University
MA in Human and Organizational Systems, Fielding Graduate University
MEd in Curriculum and Instruction, Lesley University
BA in Political Science and Psychology, University of Southern California

Certificate in Participatory Action Research Methods, Groundworks
Certificate in Community Mediation, LGBT Community Center of New York

Areas of Expertise

Africana Studies
Autoethnography
Critical Pedagogy & Critical Theory
Cultural Studies
Curriculum and Instruction
Embodiment Studies
Equity, Plurality, and Diversity
Indigenous Knowledge Studies
LGBTQ Studies
Organizational Studies
Participatory Action Research and Collaborative Inquiry
Qualitative Research/Research Ethics
Theater Arts/Theatre of the Oppressed
Transformative Learning
Queer Theory
Sexuality Studies
Social Justice
Social Media
Social Movements
Spirituality

Personal Statement

My ancestors, from present-day Nigeria and Ghana, have lived in the United States since they were kidnapped and held hostage as prisoners of war during the European colonization of Africa. My work is focused on the development of liberatory sexual cultures, Indigenous wisdom traditions, and decolonization. Rooted in communities inside and outside of academia, my scholarship, artwork, and activism are practiced primarily in collaboration with people of African descent, bisexual, queer or gender transgressive people, women of color and poor and working class people.

I have been developing a paradigm, funk aesthetic to theatre. In my most recent play, My Brother’s a Keeper, I use it in exploring Black bisexuality, the concept of kinfolk, and the social activism of Black youth in Brooklyn, New York during the late 1990s. As a scholar-practitioner-artist-activist, I am dedicated to and driven by the goals of liberation and social justice. At Goddard, I work with students of all backgrounds, communities and experiences to fulfill their learning goals and develop the skills necessary to meet those goals. I believe in the power of a learning-centered education to provide transformative learning opportunities for learners, educators and societies. And I am deeply committed to the principles of education for critical consciousness and community articulated by Paulo Freire, bell hooks, and Julius Nyerere.

I am the founder and chief erotics officer of the Center for Culture, Sexuality, and Spirituality and editor-in-chief of its webjournal sacredsexualities.org. Two of the main frameworks for my work are Decolonizing and Reconstructing Epistemologies (DRE) and Afrocentric, Decolonizing Kweer Theory (ADKT). DRE is a framework for research and practice guided by principles of social and ecological justice as well as a deep appreciation of the value of Indigenous knowledge and wisdom. ADKT is a way of understanding how Blackness and queerness are culturally, spiritually, and sexually interconnected as sources of liberatory power. As Hm Ntchr Tpi (High Priest) of the Kra Skhmt Ha Hruht (Shrine of Sekhmet and Heruhet), I am a spiritual teacher and guide initiated in the tradition of Kemet (Ancient Egypt). In addition to my initiation in the Kemetic tradition, my spiritual education also includes mentorship and training in the spiritual traditions of the Dagara people of Burkina Faso and Ghana. In the Dagara tradition, I identify as bodemé, a sociospiritualsexual concept of purpose and service within community.

As a principal at KHPRA Consulting, I provide expertise to organizations in a variety of areas of organizational life including equity and justice, workplace dynamics, team building, strategic planning, conflict management, program development and evaluation.