Writers of Color

I am a historian and former newspaper journalist and editor who writes about race, black culture(s), racial violence, and reproductive rights. I also write periodically about food and entertainment. I specialize in African-American history in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and I focus on the history of black women and girls particularly. My first book is a history of black girls, the law, and early segregation from about 1880 to 1920, and I’m also at work on a book about African-Americans and abortion from slavery to 1973, the year of Roe v. Wade. In my past journalistic careers, I was a copy editor, web editor, arts and entertainment writer, and an assistant features editor. I am a scholar and activist who co-founded the only abortion fund (a nonprofit that gives small grants to women who can’t afford their abortions). Though I’m an academic, I pride myself on making history accessible — what I call “history sans footnotes.” I am also a proud black Southerner and write frequently about what Southern identity means in our contemporary moment. But make no mistake: The fact that I hold a PhD (from Duke University) doesn’t mean that I only write about weighty topics. I am an unabashed TV junkie who believes that pop culture is just as important as highbrow “Culture” with the capital “A.” I’m just as likely to want to write about the comeback of the TV show “Justified” as I am about the continuing fallout from Ferguson.