Araya Baker

Araya Baker is a counselor, suicidologist, and policy analyst. Baker has published commentary and public scholarship in The New York Times, The Washington Post's The Lily, Huffington Post, Education Post, Vice, Buzzfeed, The Mighty, The Tennessean, and other platforms. Araya earned a master's in professional counseling from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education and a master's in human development and psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Posts By Araya Baker

anti-racism

Tennessee's Toxic Politics Are Dangerous for LGBTQ Youth

In rural and small-town America, the pervasive dependency on the church to cope with limited outlets and opportunities can deter local government officials from confronting pastors who disguise...

equity

5 Tips to Promote Equity for Trans, Gender Variant and Non-Binary Students

A consistent finding in research on LGBTQ+ youth is the disproportionate bullying and victimization faced by trans students (i.e. transgender, gender nonconforming, and non-binary students). Even...

anti-racism

Sesame Street' Just Missed a Big Opportunity to Support the LGBT+ Community

Recently, a whirlwind of controversy swirled around speculation that childhood favorites Bert and Ernie, of “Sesame Street,” might be partners—yes, a gay couple. In an interview with Queerty, Mark...

student achievement

We Need to Keep Talking About Serena Williams and the Dignity of Black Children

By now we’ve all seen the headlines after the most recent U.S. Open in which Serena Williams lost to Naomi Osaka. Yet the headlines weren’t about the match itself, they were about the courtside...

Mental Health

What James Baldwin's Activism Can Teach Schools About Social Justice

Every August 2, I spend nearly the entire day observing the birthday of the late James Baldwin, one of the 20th century’s most esteemed and prolific writers, cultural commentators and social critics....

California

Rapper Vic Mensa Says We Need More Therapists in Schools Not Guns

In a recent video with ATTN, rapper Vic Mensa makes the case for combating gun violence in schools with more therapists, not cops. “Instead of adding more cops to schools where gun violence is the...

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