He doesn’t just write about the struggle—he writes toward liberation.
Dr. Leonard McKinnis is a scholar, author, and activist whose pen speaks power. As an Assistant Professor of Black Studies and Religion at the University of Illinois, he explores the spiritual roots of the Black Diaspora, centering his research on Chicago’s Great Migration and the birth of new Black religious identities.

But his side hustle? It’s public transformation. As State Director of Illinois and General Chairman of Public Policy for Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Dr. McKinnis is crafting policies, launching literacy campaigns, and building bridges between communities and power structures. In 2024, he published The Black Coptic Church: Race and Imagination in a New Religion—a groundbreaking work over a decade in the making.

He also pioneered “Alpha Illinois Reads,” a literacy initiative that partners fraternity chapters with local schools, providing scholarships and books to uplift the next generation.

Dr. McKinnis doesn't just analyze injustice—he activates justice. And with every word and action, he’s writing a better world into existence.