Denise Oliver-Velez is currently an adjunct Professor of Anthropology and Women’s Studies at SUNY New Paltz. She is a Featured Writer for Daily Kos, and is an editor of Black Kos. She has been a political activist and community organizer for more than 40 years, was in the civil rights movement, women's movement, AIDS activism movement and was a member of both the Young Lords Party and the Black Panther Party.