Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Political Science
Clark Atlanta University

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Political Science
Clark Atlanta University

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)

Political Science
University of South Florida

Political Science

Specialty Areas: Latin American Politics, Black politics in Latin America, Human Rights

Université de Paris Descarte: Visiting Fellow: Paris, France, Spring 2016

Fulbright Scholar: Research on Afro-Colombia and Law 70, Country: Colombia 1995/6

Books

Comparative Racial Politics in Latin America

Latin America has a rich and complex social history marked by slavery, colonialism, dictatorships, rebellions, social movements and revolutions. Comparative Racial Politics in Latin America explores the dynamic interplay between racial politics and hegemonic power in the region. It investigates the fluid intersection of social power and racial politics and their impact on the region’s histories, politics, identities and cultures.

Comparative Perspectives on Afro-Latin America

Throughout the Americas black social movement groups are increasingly using sophisticated strategies and tactics to challenge racial and gender inequality. Comparative Perspectives on Afro-Latin America offers a new, dynamic discussion of the experience of blackness and cultural difference, black political mobilization, and state responses to Afro-Latin activism across Latin America.

Human Rights in Afro-Latin America

Chapter 20: Human Rights in Afro-Latin America in The Routledge Handbook on Afro-Latin American Studies

This Handbook provides a comprehensive roadmap to the burgeoning area of Afro-Latin American Studies.

Afro-Latins as a civilization developed during the period of slavery, obtaining cultural contributions from Indigenous and European worlds, while today they are enriched by new social configurations derived from contemporary migrations from Africa. The essays collected in this volume speak to scientific production that has been promoted in the region from the humanities and social sciences with the aim of understanding the phenomenon of the African diaspora as a specific civilizing element. With contributions from world-leading figures in their fields overseen by an eminent international editorial board, this Handbook features original, authoritative articles organized in four coherent parts:

• Disciplinary Studies;

• Problem Focused Fields;

• Regional and Country Approaches;

• Pioneers of Afro-Latin American Studies.

Afro-Latin Social Movements in Latin America and Racial Inequality

Afro-Latin Social Movements in Latin America and Racial Inequality

This chapter examines the struggle for racial justice and human rights by Afro-descendants in Latin America. It analyzes the rise of Afro-Latin social movements, Black consciousness, and Afro-civil society during the twentieth century, and how this led to important multicultural and constitutional reforms in Latin America. While Afro-descendants constitute a sizable portion of the populations of many Latin American countries and have made substantial contributions to the region’s development, they have often been invisible and erased in national histories and nationalist discourses. Afro-Latin American women’s activism and their gender advocacy is also central to the analysis in this chapter. In countries such as Brazil and Colombia, Afro-Latin women have been at the forefront of struggles for both gender and racial justice, as well as being central actors in struggles for full citizenship and democracy and against state violence. The concept of Afro-civil society is used to place Afro-Latin social movements within a theoretical and historical time frame. While Black resistance in Latin America has been ongoing for five centuries, this chapter mainly focuses on the last third of the twentieth century and the start of the twenty-first century.

Afro-Latin Social Movements in Latin America and the Caribbean

Chapter 2: Afro-Latin Social Movements in Latin America and the Caribbean in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latin American Politics

• It provides a comprensive and up-to-date overview of the study of Latin American politics.
• Contributions represent the views of marginalized Latin Americans, particularly working people, racial minorities, and women.
• The articles, by leading authorities in the field, are written to be accessible to both a scholarly audience as well as to those outside the academy, including professionals at think tanks and in policymaking communities.

The Contradictions of Cultural Politics in Salvador da Bahia

Chapter 9: The Contradictions of Cultural Politics in Salvador da Bahia in Rethinking Latin American Social Movements: Radical Action from Below

This groundbreaking text explores the dramatic evolution in Latin American social movements over the past fifteen years. Leading scholars examine a variety of cases that highlight significant shifts in the region. First is the breakdown of the Washington Consensus and the global economic crisis since 2008, accompanied by the rise of new paradigms such as buen vivir (living well). Second are transformations in internal movement dynamics and strategies, especially the growth of horizontalism (horizontalidad), which emphasizes non-hierarchical relations within society rather than directly tackling state power. Third are new dynamics of resistance and repression as movements interact with the “pink tide” rise of left-of-center governments in the region. Exploring outcomes and future directions, the contributors consider the variations between movements arising from immediate circumstances (such as Oaxaca’s 2006 uprising and Brazil’s 2013 bus fare protests) and longer-lasting movements (Vía Campesina, Brazil’s MST, and Mexico’s Zapatistas). Assessing both the continuities in social movement dynamics and important new tendencies, this book will be essential reading for all students of Latin American politics and society.