2026 Inland Empire High School Black Graduate Ceremony | May 3, 2026
NATIONAL
AT THE INTERSECTION OF SPOKEN WORD POETRY AND SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS, CULTURE IS STUDIED. TRUTH IS SPOKEN. COMMUNITIES ARE TRANSFORMED.
Anthony Blacksher, Ph.D., also known as Ant Black in the spoken word community, is a scholar, educator, community organizer, artist, and vinyl enthusiast with work spanning academia, performance, and grassroots initiatives.
At San Bernardino Valley College, he chairs Sociology and Ethnic Studies and is part of the Puente Program's training team, support- ing community college educators across California and Texas. He helped launch SBVC's annual poetry reading honoring activist John Trudell.
Dr. Blacksher earned a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies from Claremont Graduate University, focusing on spoken word and performance poetry, and a master's in Sociological Practice from Cal State San Marcos, where he researched church communities as advocates for racial health equity.
His academic interests include ethnic studies, Hip Hop studies, crime and deviance, and digital humanities. He created SocioPoetix, an archive blending spoken word poetry and sociological analysis.
His co-authored works have appeared in the Cambridge Companion to 21st Century American Poetry, the Journal of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music, and Applied Theatre and Racial Justice.
As a community organizer and artist, he co-founded Collective Purpose and the open-mic series Elevated, helping bring San Diego's spoken word scene to national attention. He led the San Diego Poetry Slam team in five national competitions, including a fourth- place finish in 2013. Dr. Blacksher is founder and co-host of Word 66 in San Bernardino and performs with bkSoul. He has appeared on TVOne's Verses & Flow, performed with Rudy Francisco at a San Diego FC match, and serves as publisher of the San Diego Poetry An- nual and Vice President of the San Diego Entertainment + Arts Guild. Dr. Blacksher is a husband, father, and devoted community member. Outside of work, he enjoys searching for records and listening to music with strong funk, groove, and bass lines. word66.com | SocioPoetix.org