Tony Menelik Van Der Meer, PhD, is a community activist, organizer, and teacher. Dr. Van Der Meer has been teaching for the past 26 years at the University of Massachusetts Boston where he is a Senior Lecturer in the Africana Studies Department. He has organized and structured learning processes inside as well as outside of the classroom to enhance the learning experience of students and community groups.

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He has designed and organized several historic domestic tours to Montgomery, Birmingham, and Selma, Alabama to engage students and community members in close up and interactive exchanges about the Civil Rights/Black Power Movement. Dr. Van Der Meer also consults and works together with individuals, community groups, and organizations to facilitate discussions on restorative justice, understanding and undoing racism, social movements, leadership development, and change processes. He is the Co-Editor of the book State of the Race, Creating Our 21st Century: Where Do We Go From Here? (2004, Diaspora Press)

He is a research fellow of the Sustainable Solutions Lab (SSL) at UMass Boston.