Amber Starks (aka Melanin Mvskoke) is a nationally recognized Afro-Indigenous (Black and Native) advocate, writer, cultural commentator, and decolonial theorist. She is an enrolled citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and is also of Shawnee, Yuchi, Quapaw, and Cherokee descent.

Her passion is the intersection of Black and Native or Afro-Indigenous identity, and her work seeks to normalize, affirm, and uplift the multidimensional identities of Black, Native, and Afro-Indigenous peoples. She ultimately believes that it is through political education, community care, and cross-cultural kinship that Black and Native peoples can build authentic solidarity, and realize Black liberation and Indigenous sovereignty.

Her activism therefore attempts to encourage Black and Native peoples to prioritize one another and divest from compartmentalizing struggles. Thus, her advocacy endeavors to foster partnerships between Black and Native communities in hopes of refusing and eradicating anti-blackness, white supremacy, and settler colonialism, together.

Amber earned a Bachelor’s of Science in General Science (emphasis in Biology and Anthropology) from the University of Oregon. Her credits include the Smithsonian Museum, Princeton University, All My Relations podcast, TEDx Portland, Oxford University, NPR Code Switch, and more. She is also the founder and owner of Conscious Coils natural hair salon in Portland, OR.

Her pronouns are she/her.

[email protected]
Portland, OR