Sterling Johnson is a current Ph.D. student and Temple University and researches in the areas of Black geographies, anti-colonialism, feminist geography, carceral and abolition geographies. Their research is concerned with laws and morality and issues of social justice and liberation. Their lived experience as a Black Queer Mad person informs their research motives and perspective. Since 2012, Sterling has been an activist and advocate for housing and harm reduction focusing on the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region (Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington D.C.). They have a law degree from the University of California Hastings College of Law (San Francisco) and a Masters in Geography from George Washington University (Washington D.C.).