Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Political Science
University of Chicago
2017

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Social Sciences
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
2007

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)

Social Sciences
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
2007

Reimagining Democracy Fellow, Harvard University Kennedy School – Ash Center for Democratic Governance; 2025-26

Visiting Faculty, University of California – Washington Program

Outstanding Book Award, Association for Ethnic Studies; 2023

Best Book on Race, Ethnicity, and Justice; American Political Science Association; 2023

W.E.B. Du Bois Book Award; National Conference of Black Political Scientists; 2023

Georgetown University, Ignatius Seminar; 2020-2022

Nominee, Commitment to Diversity Award for Faculty; Students of Color Alliance (SOCA); 2019

Invisible Weapons

Invisible Weapons: Infiltrating Resistance and Defeating Movements

Invisible Weapons uncovers exploitative politics that operate in spite of the largest social movement in history, the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL). Agenda-setting elites push against structural change and accountability, convincing grassroots masses that oppression is inevitable and radical resistance is misguided. This is contemporary cooptation - convincing even those who actively participate in the M4BL that change is not a real possibility. This systemic hopelessness is not only the demise of U.S. democracy, but more fundamentally the destruction of grassroots radical resistance. Without this foundational center of grassroots community, all social movements are bound to falter. And without a politically empowered community, so too is the country.

Following the story of political cooptation and its destructive impact on Black, Latino/a, Asian, and white communities, Invisible Weapons reveals how everyday people get coerced into neglecting their own power.

Post-Movement Generations

Post-Movement Generations: Black Politics Protecting Democracy After the Movement for Black Lives. Chapter 6 in Deconstructing the Role of Generations in Social Movements: Time, Events, and Legacies

This chapter asks what post-M4BL Black politics will look like, which politics can we expect to persist in the post-movement era, and how will these changes be reflected in U.S. democracy? I argue that we should expect M4BL politics to persist as civil rights era politics have persisted through the M4BL and, without both mass engagement in social justice movements and contentious politics, U.S. democracy will continue to decline even more rapidly than during the post-civil rights era.

Dispelling Illusions in Our Next Lifetimes

Dispelling Illusions in Our Next Lifetimes: On Michael C. Dawson and Compassionate Intellectualism

Academia represents an extraordinary opportunity to nurture an intellectual life of the mind. Yet, the Black scholar must ask: at what cost? How can Black scholars navigate today's academy? And how might Black freedom struggles inform our visions for the future of the academy? Through the vast scholarship and pedagogy of Michael Dawson, I find answers in three things he does consistently: 1) embraces research that accounts for the power imbalance of racial oppression; 2) incorporates ideas from across disciplines and beyond the academy into analyses; and 3) embraces critique with humility. I call this compassionate intellectualism – a liberatory methodology Dawson uses to overcome the isolationism, disengagement from community, and rejection of radicalism that is pervasive even among Black scholars.

Social Movements and U.S. Political Parties

Social Movements and U.S. Political Parties: Evolutionary and Revolutionary Change. Chapter 9 in the APSA Presidential Task Force on Political Parties by the American Political Science Association

Social movements are asking how organized and mobilized masses address power and power holders. Parties are among these power holders, but more widespread concerns about fascism have led to questions about the viability and responsibilities of parties. Therefore, we aim to understand the relationship between these two entities.

The Baltimore Uprising and the Stunted Transformation of Urban Black Politics

The Baltimore Uprising and the Stunted Transformation of Urban Black Politics. Chapter 8 in Making Citizenship Work: Culture and Community

Making Citizenship Work seeks to address questions of how a community reaches a place where it can actually make citizenship work.  A second question addressed is "What does citizenship represent to different communities?"  Across thirteen chapters a collection of experts traverse multiple disciplines in analyzing citizenship from different points of access.