Lance T. McCready, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Urban Education in the department of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education (LHAE) at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto (OISE/UT). He was born in Brooklyn, NY, has three brothers who currently live in the United States and identifies as African American and gay/queer. His parents, Joyce Jacobs-El and William Floyd McCready are deceased. He uses he/him, they/them pronouns. Dr. McCready obtained his Ph.D. in Social and Cultural Studies in Education (Designated Emphasis in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies) in 2002 from the University of California, Berkeley. He is an interdisciplinary social scientist whose research, writing, and service focus broadly on the education, health, and well-being of Black children, youth, and families with a strong interest in experiences of Black queer youth and young adults, men, and boys. He is the author of Making Space for Diverse Masculinities, published in 2010 by Peter Lang and Principal Investigator for several research projects including Educational Trajectories of Black Male Youth, and African, Caribbean, Black Family Group Conferencing Project, and the Black Student University Access Network. He also serves as Co-Investigator for WeSpeak: Heterosexual Black men and HIV, and Project #Queery, a study on the online activities of queer youth in Canada and the US. He is a Lead Researcher for the Black Child and Youth Studies Network in Ontario, and at Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention served as an evaluator of the Many Men, Many Voices, HIV education intervention for young Black MSM, and a research consultant for Picasso’s Black Canvas, a verbatim theatre piece about the lives of young Black gay men in Toronto.
How do you manage COVID related stress/anxiety?
Trying to stay healthy, which means making good food choices, exercising regularly, getting at least 6 hours of sleep nightly, keeping a good sense of humour, challenging and intervening in systemic inequalities.
What are your favourite self-care activities right now?
Tennis (singles AND doubles ☺), healthy eating
Who have been the strongest influences in your life?
Definitely my mother who was smart, strong, loyal, creative, committed adult educator in culinary arts. American choreographers Bill T. Jones and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar who pioneered unique dance styles based on modern, African, Caribbean and social dance traditions. Social scientists W.E.B. Dubois, Zora Neale Hurston, William Julius Wilson, Roderick Ferguson, Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Patricia Hill Collins, Margaret Beale Spencer, poets Audre Lorde, Craig Harris, Essex Hemphill, Pat Parker, filmmakers Marlon Riggs, Julie Dash, Cheryl Dunye and the list goes on… ☺
What led you to your current (career, art, activism)?
While I never imagined I’d become a professor (not many people do), I always loved the university atmosphere, specifically the breadth and depth learning, research and activism.
How would friends and acquaintances describe you?
Generalist, smart, silly, sense of humour, community-minded, research oriented, athletic, competitive, closet creative, lover of the arts, food lover, moviegoer, loyal, good friend,
What are you most proud of accomplishing?
I am proud of “sticking it out” in Canada, making it work, living, learning, loving in ways I never imagined, including serving as Director for the Transitional Year Programme for two years. I’m particularly proud, excited and grateful for my decade long collaborations with the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention, the staff, clients, affiliated researchers and service providers I work with there, helping to build a stronger, sustainable, impactful organization that improves the health and well-being Black LGBTQI people.
If interested in a BGMN Committee, which one would you like to be a part of and why?
- Steering Committee to further the organizations work on:
- Culture & knowledge production
- Sexual health & pleasure
- Mentoring