Niki Billingslea has been an adjunct assistant professor of English at Los Angeles Southwest College since 1997. She has an M.F.A. in creative writing from Brooklyn College, where she studied with Beat poet Allen Ginsberg. Her journalistic contributions include hip hop magazines and community news sources. Her poetry and fiction have been published in anthologies, academic journals and poetry publications, including a self-published chapbook. She has performed as a singer with The Voice of U.G.M.A.A., a jazz choir founded by Horace Tapscott, directed by Dwight Trible and danced with Abalaye African Dance Ensemble.