Kabir Amari
Kabir Amari is a nonbinary educator, content facilitator, and curriculum creator who uses they/them pronouns.
A native of Atlanta, Georgia, and a transplant to south and central Florida, Kabir Amari’s passions and scholarship are deeply rooted in the experiences of Black Southern Americans. You will never find them adding sugar to their grits.
After being wrongfully arrested and charged for a classroom disturbance in the 7th grade, Kabir Amari developed an early critical consciousness about the commonplace injustices suffered by youth caught within the hopeless confines of the school-to-prison pipeline.
Immediately after graduating from Florida A&M University, Kabir Amari became a classroom teacher who was determined to divest from traditional punitive models of discipline in public education. They intentionally served in Title 1 schools exclusively for the entirety of their career as a classroom teacher. Despite the joys of the profession, their teaching experiences were marred by years of discriminatory practices from colleagues and supervisors who frequently expressed queerphobic sentiments toward adults and students. These challenges inspired Kabir Amari to build welcoming and affirming spaces for queer and trans youth in schools. In 2016, Kabir Amari left the classroom to become a full-time diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and justice practitioner.
Their areas of specialization include facilitating conversations and organizing courses that allow participants to conscientiously examine the experiences of persons who have been marginalized by multiple, intersecting systems of oppression. Kabir Amari has trained education professionals from grade school to post-secondary institutions across the country about the importance of developing a praxis that allows them to approach queer and trans equity through an intersectional lens. They have spent over a decade providing guidance, mentorship, and leadership opportunities for queer and trans youth in South Florida and beyond. Kabir Amari believes that all educators have a role in liberating students.
Kabir Amari was recently selected as one of South Florida Gay News’ “Out 50”, a distinguished list recognizing openly LGBTQ+ individuals who make an impact in South Florida. Kabir Amari was also a recipient of the Bishop S.F. Makalani-Mahee Award for Trans Equality for their work supporting transgender youth, and they were a finalist for GLSEN’s Educator of the Year award in 2020.
They are a proud fourth generation graduate of Florida A&M University, where they earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science with a minor in International Relations and a concentration in Africana studies. They also completed a Master of Education degree from Johns Hopkins University.
You will find Kabir Amari most inspired and at peace when they are spending quality time with their partner Alex, or while reading Octavia Butler or Toni Morrison.