Anika T. Prather focuses her research on building literacy with African American students through engagement in the books within the literary canon and, more recently, her self-published book Living in the Constellation of the Canon: The Lived Experiences of African American Students Reading Great Books Literature. Currently she teaches in the English department at Howard University and is the founder of the Living Water School, a Christian school for independent learners based in southern Maryland. She also works as an adjunct professor at Messiah University. She and her husband Damon have three young children and live in the DC metropolitan area. Twitter: @AnikaFreeindeed