Damali Ayo

damali ayo and her work have been featured in publications world-wide including Harpers, the Village Voice, Salon.com, the Washington Post, Seattle Times, Chicago Tribune, Redbook Magazine, The O'Reilly Factor, and Book TV. As a keynote speaker she travels the country, engaging audiences to think, feel, and heal through difficult community and personal challenges. She is the author of two books, How to Rent a Negro and Obamistan! which were playful yet biting satirical examinations of race relations. damali is a contributor to four other books, and has done several stories for NPR and Public Radio International. damali was a contributor to the reboot of the historic This I Believe radio series, as well as a repeat guest panelist on NPR's Weekend America. Her writing, art, and lectures have engaged topics ranging from race, gender, sexual assault, and sexual orientation to spirituality, chronic illness, the creative process, healing, music, and trash.

An expert story-teller, damali offers humor, insight, and creativity to make our culture's toughest topics manageable and fun. How to Rent a Negro was acclaimed as "one of the most trenchant and amusing commentaries on contemporary race relations." It was granted a 2005 Honorable Mention in the Outstanding Book Awards from the Gustavus Meyers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights. Obamistan! Land without Racism: Your Guide to the New America debunks the myth of a post-race world. She is a member of "The Black Panel" in Baratunde Thurston's How To Be Black, has a chapter in the book Reality Radio and was interviewed by Davy Rothbart in Found II. Her monthly letter to her readers, The Blessings, shares personal stories about creativity, healing, and faith.

damali is a dynamic personality who brings energy, inspiration, and positivity wherever she goes. Through her trademark humor, bolstered by a remarkably vulnerable and open telling of her stories, damali shows her audience that life is an ongoing process of growth and evolution.