Tonyaa...

Is a multiple award-winning newspaper columnist, journalism lecturer, speaker and intercultural communication scholar whose career has spanned three decades. Tonyaa's awards include the prestigious Florida Society of News Editors' Award, the National Association of Black Journalists' Salute to Excellence Award, and numerous others. Tonyaa has appeared on news shows ranging from NBC's Nightline to BET Tonight, and her columns, which have appeared on national websites such as Black America Web, The Root and The Undefeated, generally explore the impact of social and economic isolation on communities of color and the nation's future. Her international work has largely focused on Cuba, a nation that she has studied as a template for examining racial and social issues in the U.S. Now based at The Commercial Appeal in Memphis and as part of the USA Today Network, Tonyaa is continuing to use her platform as metro columnist and international journalist and researcher to continue to amplify the voices of marginalized people.