I am an Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of Maryland - College Park and the Director of the Andrew W. Mellon funded initiative Synergies among Digital Humanities and African American History and Culture. A native Chicagoan, I received my Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Illinois at Chicago. My area of research is race, gender and media with specific focus on African American culture and discourse in traditional and new media. I examine representations of marginalized communities in the media and how traditionally marginalized populations resist oppression and utilize online technology to create spaces of community.
Some of my recent work engages with blogs as sites which replicate features of black oral culture in order to engage in political discourse in seemingly apolitical spaces. I utilize critical theory and qualitative methods to engage with with deep readings of texts exploring the connections between traditional news, online writing and entertainment media to better elucidate how ideologies are formed, maintained and changed in a given culture over time. I consider myself a digital black feminist, often exploring the "shades of grey" between media consumption and media critique as black female activist scholar. My forthcoming book explores digital black feminism and the use of online technology by black women to shape and re-shape black feminist discourse.
Some of my recent work engages with blogs as sites which replicate features of black oral culture in order to engage in political discourse in seemingly apolitical spaces. I utilize critical theory and qualitative methods to engage with with deep readings of texts exploring the connections between traditional news, online writing and entertainment media to better elucidate how ideologies are formed, maintained and changed in a given culture over time. I consider myself a digital black feminist, often exploring the "shades of grey" between media consumption and media critique as black female activist scholar. My forthcoming book explores digital black feminism and the use of online technology by black women to shape and re-shape black feminist discourse.