theincredibleedibleakynos
1 Course • 10 StudentsBiography
The Incredible, Edible Akynos is a multidisciplinary scholar, stripper, artist, and activist with a rich and diverse background rooted in adult entertainment. She is the founder and guiding spirit of The Black Sex Worker Collective (BSWC). A global grassroots organization fighting for the rights of Black Sex Workers.
Akynos was a Fellow of the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights for People of African Descent in 2022 and has been recognized as one of the 100 Most Influential People of African Descent of the same year.
A veteran burlesque show stripper, Akynos began her career in New York City in 2007 and has since performed globally, bringing her unique artistry to stages around the world. You can read about her in The New York Times (2018), alongside members of brAss (Brown Radical Ass Burlesque ) Routledge International Handbook of Sex Industry Research (2019) with PJ Starr for the work titled: I need $5 million dollars.
Her adult performance work has been featured in adult magazines, including the now defunct urban magazine Black Tail. Her personal website, akynos.com, has been a cornerstone of her creative and advocacy work for over 20 years.
Akynos, a hoodrat academic who grew up on welfare in Brooklyn, NY and was a teen mother, is also a sought-after speaker and educator. She delivered keynotes at UCLA and UCSB in 2019 and recently presented a mini-lecture on The Language of Sex Work at ILGA Europe in Romania in 2024. Through her scholarship, performance, and activism, Akynos challenges societal stigmas and amplifies the voices of marginalized communities, particularly Sex Workers.
As a Black queer feminist, Akynos is committed to creating spaces that honor the complexity and humanity of Sex Workers while maintaining her status as the #1 Black Heaux and a firm misandrist.
