VALERIE MASON-JOHN (Author, Editor) is a public speaker and master trainer in the fields of conflict transformation, leadership, and mindfulness. They are the award-winning author/editor of nine books. Their debut novel, Borrowed Body, won the 2006 Mind Book of the Year Award. They co-edited the award-winning anthology The Great Black North: Contemporary African Canadian Poetry and co-produced blackhalifax.com. The co-authored Eight Step Recovery: Using The Buddha's Teaching to Overcome Addiction, which was the winner of the Best USA Book Award 2014 and Best International Book Award 2015 in the self-motivational and self-help category. Their most recent book, published in 2020, I Am Still Your Negro: An Homage to James Baldwin, has won critical acclaim.