Gholnecsar "Gholdy" Muhammad earned her Ph.D. in literacy, language and culture at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is an associate professor and director of the Urban Literacy Collaborative and Clinic at Georgia State University. Her research has focused on the social and historical foundations of literacy in Black communities and how literacy development can be reconceptualized in classrooms today. She is the author of Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy and works with teachers and youth across the United States and South Africa.