Transitions at BBQ+: A message from Myrna and Ahmed

We at the Center wish to share some exciting news with our community: our director, Ahmed Ragab, is completing his term, and Myrna Sheldon is stepping in as interim director. We’re looking forward to furthering our growth through this transition process with both Myrna’s and Ahmed’s continued insight and support, and we invite you to read Myrna’s and Ahmed’s letters below. We welcome well wishes or any questions about the transition at info@bbqplus.org!

A letter from Myrna

Dear friends and colleagues,

I am honored to be taking the position as Interim Director of the Center of Brown, Black, and Queer Studies. The center was founded with a vision of solidarity, generosity, and as a space where Brown, Black and Queer scholars and their work could thrive. I am grateful to Ahmed Ragab for the work he has poured into the Center since its beginning, and for his confidence in the work and the future of the Center. I am excited to continue the work, and to support the efforts of our Pedagogy Lab, our Center Fellows, and all of our ongoing research efforts. The work that BBQ+ does is needed in our world more than ever, and I am excited to be part of bringing our voices into the world.

With excitement and gratitude,

Myrna

A letter from Ahmed

Dear friends and colleagues,

A little over four years ago, we started the journey to create a space for us—a different space dedicated to generosity and solidarity and focused on growth and resilience. This place is BBQ+. Over these years, it has been my honor to direct the Center and work with the most fantastic group of colleagues and friends I could imagine. Over these years, BBQ+ grew from a dream to a reality and weathered a pandemic and many other obstacles. The belief, generosity, and dedication of all those who made BBQ+ their home kept us going. I could not be prouder of what we have accomplished.

Today, it is my pleasure to step down at the end of my term as the Center’s inaugural director and to hand over the steering wheel to my dear friend, Myrna Sheldon. Myrna has been there since day one—co-founding the Center and leading its board. I am very grateful that Myrna agreed to step in as interim director and lead the search for our new director. I cannot imagine a more talented or devoted person to lead BBQ+ at this time or a steadier hand at the helm as we move to the next chapter. My dear friend, Eli Nelson, has also accepted to take on the role of chairperson of the Board and to provide Myrna with the advice and support that she and the Center need. I am deeply grateful to Myrna and Eli and very excited about all the beautiful things they will do at the Center.

BBQ+ will, of course, continue to be my home. I have accepted to serve as Senior Advisor to the Director. I will also continue to coordinate the postdoctoral cohort of the Center’s Fellowship under the leadership of Soha Bayoumi, our new Director of Fellowships. I will also continue as co-editor of Osiris and editor of the JHUP book series “Global Studies in Medicine, Science, Race, and Colonialism”—both entities hosted by BBQ+.

I want to thank all the wonderful people whom I had the pleasure of working with over the years: Ashley Butler, our manager, and Caitlin Gunn, the director of the pedagogy lab and the Center’s assistant director, were great partners through all the administrative work that a center like ours requires. Soha Bayoumi, our director of fellowships, Sarah Clinton-McCausland, our librarian and communications officer, Zora Viel, social media and design lead, and Michele Sparks, our admin assistant, poured so much of their effort and energy into the making of BBQ+. I know Myrna will rely on all their work and generosity in the coming days.

When we founded the Center, a group of scholars believed in this project and agreed to lend their thoughts and names to our endeavors. Our Senior Fellows are as much part of where we are as anyone. Their belief in the Center, when it was but an idea, was the difference between dream and reality.

Last but certainly not least, I want to thank all the fantastic fellows who joined the Center over the years. The Center is sustained through your work and your hopes and dreams. I want to particularly thank the beautiful folks whom I had the chance to work closely with over the years: Rene Esparza, Lexi Smith, Khy Davis, Brenda Lara, Elizabeth Rule, Runchao Liu, Matthew Chin, Xan Chacko, Victoria Massie, Kimberly Bain, Juan Carlos Montilla, Endia Hayes, Xavier Sivels, Tolu Taiwo, and many others. Our weekly meetings were always the highlight of every week.

I look forward to continuing our work together and welcoming a new cohort of postdoctoral fellows.

It has been the honor of my life to co-found and direct BBQ+. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!