At just 8 years old, Zuri Hudson is a lover of people and can usually be seen, rockin’ an afro and pearls! With a love for Spelman College, outdoor fun, playing with her cousins, and reading,  Zuri Hudson’s favorite television shows are Veggie Tales, Karma’s World, and Ada Twist, Scientist. When she isn’t singing around the house, or asking her Daddy to go on long bike rides or play chess - she also favors using her imagination to tell funny stories. During homeschool field trips, she enjoys visiting the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Smithsonian Institution’s, National Air & Space Museum.

Zuri Hudson has shared her love of reading at the Michigan Council of Teachers of English, WDIV Channel 4 News, WXYZ Channel 7 News, The Michigan Learning Channel, and The National Council of Teachers of English. Some of Zuri Hudson’s future plans include helping others, wearing multiple dresses everyday, singing along to musicals, and drawing pictures.

A K-12 product of Detroit Public Schools, Raven is also a proud Detroit native and resident. She is an associate professor in the Department of Teacher Education at Michigan State University (MSU). Dr. Jones’s teaching, research, and publications focus on debate education, literacy, culture, race, equity, and the educational and lived experiences of students of color in urban contexts. Prior to teaching at MSU, Raven served as a classroom teacher in Detroit, and served as a Director of Debate, where her students won championship titles within the Detroit Urban Debate League. Additionally, they competed at regional and national tournaments, including The Harvard National High School Invitational.

Dr. Jones has been the recipient of numerous fellowships and awards, including: the James and Grace Lee Boggs Center to Nurture Community Leadership Fellowship, Adams Academy, Democratizing Knowledge Institute, Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing, the “Rock Star” award from the Cranbrook Institute of Science, and a Fulbright-Hays award, where she studied in Tanzania. As the co-founder of The Zuri Reads Initiative, Raven really enjoys seeing children excited about books and learning while having fun. In her spare time, she loves to cook tacos, play Scrabble, rep Detroit everywhere she goes, watch her plants grow, and ball out on LEGO sets and sparkly dresses and shoes for her 8 year old daughter, Zuri Hudson.