Sheena Michele Mason

 
A photo of 2024 Atlantic Fellow for Racial EquitySheena Michele Mason. A light skinned Black woman with curly hair, she wears a Black leather jacket over a red blouse, sits on a golden brown couch, and smiles warmly at the camera.

Assistant Professor,
State University of New York, Oneonta,
and Founder, Togetherness Wayfinder

Sheena Michele Mason is an assistant professor in English at the State University of New York (SUNY) Oneonta, specialising in Africana literature and philosophy. She is a philosopher of race and the innovator of the togetherness wayfinder, formerly known as the theory of racelessness.

The togetherness wayfinder is a toolkit that includes language, philosophy, tenets, educational information, concepts, and a translator. When used in whole, the wayfinder enables people to better identify and contribute toward ending racism.

Through the wayfinder, she strives to spark a movement based on the insight that we must undo our belief in race and practice of racialisation to undo the causes and effects of racism. To that end, she founded Togetherness Wayfinder, an educational firm that helps organisations and individuals imagine and create a future without maintaining the causes and effects of racism. And her book The Raceless Antiracist: Why Ending Race Is the Future of Antiracism presents the togetherness wayfinder for a broad audience.

Sheena earned her Ph.D. with distinction from Howard University in Washington, D.C., USA, in May 2021.

2024Atlantic Fellows for Racial EquityUnited States, Human Rights, Education & Youth Development