DIRECTOR OF THE RAP LAB

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA- BERKLEY

SENIOR RESEARCHER

PHD STUDENT

GRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANT

SENIOR RESEARCHER

NORTH HIGH SCHOOL

COMMUNITY DESIGNER

SOLIDARITY STUDIOS - CHICAGO

COMMUNITY DESIGNER

MASTERS STUDENT

GRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANT

PH.D STUDENT

GRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANT

COMMUNITY DESIGNER

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANT

PHD CANDIDATE

GRADUATE RESEARCHER

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANT

The RAP Lab is under the current direction of Professor Kalonji Nzinga from the Department of Education at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Professor Nzinga is a cultural psychologist exploring how millennials and post-millennials develop their ethical worldviews. Using methods of validated psychological instruments, clinical interviews, and ethnographic observation he studies how young people come to understand moral concepts like authenticity, loyalty and justice as they grow up.

His research illuminates the polycultural process where young people encounter moral discourses from various traditions; in the form of sacred texts and traditional myths, but also in episodes of Law & Order, rap verses, and the comment threads of Twitter posts. His research has informed the design of various learning environments, multimedia arts exhibitions, and is published in the Journal of Cognition & Culture and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Alexander Williams received his Master's in Literature from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2021 and his Bachelor’s in Literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2015. Alexander’s pedagogy and writing strengthens his assertion that life is art. Creatively, he explores this assertion through haunted poetry and the archetype of the Black male rapper. Because the persona created by the Black male rapper in the United States is a social experiment, Alexander’s work becomes the ultimate case study for his scholarly pursuits as poet, persona, and critic. Besides creative and poetic projects, Alexander co-founded the educational collective Lyripeutics, comprised of fellow RAP Lab members Shawn O’Neal, Kalonji Nzinga, Marlene Palomar, Karia White, and others. Through critical discussions and artistic pursuits, he believes emotional intelligence, mindfulness, meditation, and other practices can allow students to unpack the trauma that plagues their lives and establish their own personas to push American literary, cultural, and artistic boundaries.

Currently, Alexander is a Ph.D. student at the University of California, Los Angeles where he studies under Professor Adam Bradley and assists him with creating a RAP Lab at UCLA.

Anne Fritzson’s main research interests center around the mental health of perinatal populations, with a particular focus on affordable and accessible treatment options. Some areas of interest include mindfulness interventions, exercise interventions, and the integration of mental health care into OB/GYN practices.

Anne is also interested in investigating how perinatal depression affects infant and youth outcomes, such as infant temperament, cognitive development, and social development. Additionally, she would like to explore the impact of perinatal antidepressant medication usage on infant outcomes.

Anurag Andra is an MFA candidate at the University of Colorado-Boulder's graduate Creative Writing program, where he also serves as an editor for the experimental literary journal, TIMBER. He is the author of the novella Submarine (Split/Lip Press, 2022). His recent fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in literary journals such as Ninth Letter, Atticus Review, Necessary Fiction and elsewhere, primarily dealing with subjects of identity, mental health, and coming-of-age. He is currently at work on a collection of stories, as well as a novel.

Anurag was born in Brooklyn, NY and grew up in the suburb of Bridgewater, NJ. He received his B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh in 2014 where he studied Economics and Psychology.

Carla Cariño is a Teach Plus Colorado Teaching Policy Fellow. Carla teaches 11th grade civics, AP government and politics and ethnic studies at North High School in the Denver Public School District.

She is one of the inaugural member of the Colorado Commissioner’s Teacher Cabinet, the state's education commissioner’s teacher advisory board. Carla is also a member of the CDE Civics Standards Revision and Review Committee and the Civics Curriculum Review Committee for Denver Public Schools.

She earned a BA in American Studies, teaching certificate, and an MA in Instruction and Curriculum from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Cesar Almeida (DJ Antonio Cesar) is an international house music DJ based in Chicago that uses his platform to preserve musical traditions, conserve the environment, and inspire the youth.

Cesar is the program director of the Ghana Music Project, a cultural project that helps beat-makers, artists, and producers connect to African tradition through sampling. He is also the lead learning designer for Solidarity Studios, an international music studio that facilitates music education and community building opportunities for artists across the world.

At this moment, Cesar serves as the youth program coordinator at the Eco Ambassador Program, an environmental justice program that invites youth to green spaces for artistic expression, educational workshops, and leadership training to advocate for climate justice in Chicago. The "Dancing for Environmental Justice" series is an example of an artistic project incubated from the Eco Ambassador Program. Follow @poweredbycesar and @djantoniocesar on all platforms to keep updated.

Karia White, originally from New Jersey, is currently pursuing her Masters in Learning Sciences and Human Development in the School of Education. She earned two Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs and Ethnic Studies, as well as a minor in Political Science from the University of Colorado-Boulder. She is one of the student Co-Founders of the Center for African and African American Studies.

She is a poet, writer, and mixed media artist that explores the juxtaposition of liminal and concrete space of Black bodies and experience through Afropessimism, her interrogation of utopia and habitual torture among other lenses relevant to the unique experiences of the oppressed.

Karia is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Karia is the Co-Founder of Shades of Honey, an open mic space centered around BIPOC stories and expression. She is also the Founder of “Interludes”, a sonic book club examining hip hop bodies of work; and” Books for the Block'', a political focused book club. She is also involved in the “Denver Freedom School” Project that facilitates political education within the city of Denver.

She is an graduate research assistant under Dr. Kalonji Nzinga in the School of Education working to cultivate decolonizing methodologies, praxis and pedagogy through Hip Hop in the “Lyripeutics Storytelling Project” that she helped co-design alongside other RAP LAB members.

Marlene Palomar is a Doctoral student at CU Boulder from Montbello Colorado. She is starting her second year in the School of Education, focusing on learning sciences and human development. She recently graduated with her master's degree in Counseling, specializing in Couple and Family Therapy.

Marlene is currently a research assistant working on various projects in the School of Education and the Renée Crown Wellness Institute.

Projects include the Lyripeutics Storytelling project where she collaborates with a collective of scholars, educators, community organizers, and artists to remix education and wellness through hip hop. Her current research interests include taking an interdisciplinary and collaborative approach to studying, learning, teaching and development. She is interested in the use of genuine cariño, equity, wellness, narratives, and music to explore issues of social justice, power, and culture in learning.

Michael Acuña is a youth advocate, hip-hop artist and educator that resides in Denver, Colorado.

He’s currently working alongside the Office of The Independent Monitor facilitating Minimizing Implicit Bias workshops between police and youth, and helping with community outreach.

Michael is also the co-founder of Tribal Zyphers, a program that connects youth to the indigenous roots of hip-hop culture empowering self narratives.

Michael has been honored as the recipient of the Westword Mastermind Award in 2018 and former President Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper Initiative MBK 25 award in 2016 for his creative work in his community.

Nya Joy is a Psychology and Dance undergraduate student at CU Boulder.

She is passionate about building bridges between mental health resources and underrepresented youth to aid in their growth processes.

After college, her dream is to attend Denver University for her doctorate in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis on Childhood Development in order to be a resource for a community she cares deeply for: youth and adolescents.

She has a 2 year old pug named Luna Bee, and she am beyond excited to be a member of the RAP Lab and Lyripeutics as a collective.here

Shawn O’Neal’s research examines the processes of colonization and settler colonialism and its effects on cultural components such as visual art and music.

Through critical and intersectional scholarship, ethnomusicology and varied methodologies, his analyses focus on the manners in which issues within race, sexism, feminism, gender, and social justice can be engaged through artistic constructions and expressions.

Arianna “Ari” Baharmast is a third-year undergraduate student at the University of Colorado, Boulder studying Neuroscience with a minor in Music.

Ari’s involvement in the RAP Lab stems from growing up on Hip-Hop and her use of creating music as a form of healing.

Ari’s passion as a singer lies in performing R&B, Rap, Neo-soul and Jazz music. Her influences include that of Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu and more.

Ari looks forward to classroom collaboration on the “Lyripeutics Storytelling Project” as she believes hip-hop holds great power in education and learning.

We are a home for research and practice that is dedicated to the social and emotional wellness of all young people, and because we believe wellness must be understood in context, the wellness of adults who support them.

That’s why we’re pursuing a new paradigm of research, rooted in connection. Our work builds connections across disciplines within the university and partnerships where teams of researchers, families, teachers, young people, and community members work together as equal partners. We co-design and study transformative practices, programs, and policies that foster wellness among children and youth, families and communities, and educators.

We are growing this community. Together, we identify dilemmas, seed solutions and harvest what works—for as many children and young people as possible.

Our vision invites many disciplines, perspectives and people to come together. We seek to promote the wellness of young people and the systems and adults who support them through interdisciplinary research-practice partnerships. That is the shared work of the Renée Crown Wellness Institute.

North High School catalyzes the academic and personal success of all students, transforming them to reach their full potential at the post-secondary program of their choice and to be leaders in an ever-changing world. Lyripeutics and the RAP Lab have worked with North High School via the Lyripeutics Storytelling Project and the Lab's "Pop Lyrics in the Classroom" initiatives, respectively.

The American Music Research Center (AMRC) is dedicated to exploring and celebrating the diverse and rich traditions of American music. Jointly housed between the the University of Colorado’s College of Music and the University Libraries, the AMRC is home to a rare music repository that includes scores, papers, recordings, and material artifacts that document the history of American music and the people who have made it.

We regularly sponsor public events and community outreach activities—such as concerts, conferences, publications, and lectures—and provide grants to support both institutionally-affiliated and independent scholars working on American music research. Visiting scholars and the public are welcome to visit by appointment.

Welcome to Manual High School, where the light shines brightly on all our students.

At Manual, we believe our student scholars are capable of achieving at the highest levels. As a result, Manual students develop an unshakable mindset of achievement that includes the ability to think critically and the resiliency to strive for greatness.

Mission Statement

Empower students to step into their greatness and take their place in the world.

Vision Statement

Create an environment where Denver’s high school students have the opportunity to reach their full potential and obtain an excellent education in a diverse, equitable environment that values its vibrant community, culture of achievement, and innovative approach to teaching and learning.