bell hooks at the New School, 10 October 2014. Photo by Alex Lozupone (Tduk), via Wikimedia Commons African American, Cultural Theory, Philosophy bell hooks (Gloria Jean Watkins) (1952-2021) Gloria Jean Watkins, best known by her adopted pen name, bell hooks, was one of the most respected and prolific Black woman thinkers of all time, celebrated …
Photo by Carl Fleischhauer. Dorothy Sara Lee Speaks During Presentation of Wax Cylinder Recordings. United States Nebraska Macy, 1983. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/omhbib000607/. African American, Archives, Folklore, Ethnomusicology Dorothy Sara Lee (1951-2005) Dorothy Sara Lee was an African American folklorist, ethnomusicologist, archivist, and consummate scholar and ethnographer of Native American and Fijian musics and cultures. Born in …
Courtesy of daughter, Brie Jackson. African American, Linguistics Patricia Jones-Jackson (1946-1986) Dr. Patricia Jones-Jackson was a linguist and scholar of Gullah folkways and language traditions. Hailing from a large and rural family, Patricia Jones was the seventh of eight children born to Haller Reed Jones and Curtis Lucious Jones in Schaal, Arkansas. Her siblings include …
Edward J. Cabbell at Concord College, Athens, W. Va. Collection Number: A&M 217. Identifier: 038004. Image courtesy of West Virginia and Regional History Center, WVU Libraries African American, History, Cultural Activism, Literature Edward J. Cabbell (1946-2018) Ed Cabbell was a historian and folklorist of the traditions of Black Appalachia (Affrilachia) and brought the stories and …
Photograph by Patrick Heagney. African American, Storytelling, Cultural Activism Cornelia Bailey (1945-2017) In her own words, Cornelia Bailey was a Saltwater Geechee and a storyteller. Her research, writing, cultural, and environmental activism in her birthplace in Belle Marsh on Sapelo Island, part of the Georgia Sea Islands, defined her contribution to the folklore field. Bailey …
Photograph by Francine Price, from the UC Berkeley News Center African American, Diaspora Studies VèVè Amasasa Clark (1944-2007) VèVè Clark was born in Queens, New York in 1944 as the only child to Alonzo Clark, an African American from North Carolina, and Pauline Kirton, from the Caribbean. Raised in Queens, she attended Queens College at …
Albert J. Raboteau in his office at Princeton University in 2013. Photo credit Kyle Christy/Loyola Marymount University African American, Religion, History Albert Jordy Raboteau II (1943-2021) Albert J. Raboteau II was a founder of African American religious studies. His meticulous research and publications, anchored in the voices and historical documents of African Americans, dispel negative …
Photo courtesy of Porter’s wife, Joyce African American, Documentary Photography J. Nash Porter (1942-2007) J. Nash Porter was an award-winning documentary photographer of African American life in New Orleans, Louisiana, and the African Diaspora. J. Nash Porter was born and raised in New Orleans in an uptown neighborhood. After completing high school, he joined the …
John Blassingame, while he was a professor of history at Yale University. Photographer unknown. African American, History John Blassingame (1940-2000) John Wesley Blassingame transformed the scholarly knowledge and perception of the lives, cultures, and traditions of 19th century African Americans through his meticulous research examining documents that revealed the voices and thoughts of enslaved people. …
Photo by Stan Barouh African American, Foodways, Ethnography, Media Production Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor, Hon* (1937-2016) Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor was a multimedia performer and culinary griot, specializing in the food and culture traditions of Gullah people. She shared her insights as a journalist on National Public Radio, Public Television, and through numerous magazine articles and books. Vertamae Smart, …