Photographer unknown; promotional image used in many publications. African American, Documentary Film, Cultural Theory Marlon Troy Riggs (1957-1994) Marlon Riggs was an award-winning filmmaker whose work challenged racial and gay stereotypes in their historical and cultural contexts. Marlon Troy Riggs was born in 1957 in Fort Worth, Texas, to Alvin and Jean Riggs, who were …
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 …
Kariamu Welsh in the 1970s, when she became a choreographer of Afrocentric dance. Photo provided by estate for Welsh’s obituary. African American, Dance, Ethnography Kariamu Welsh (Asante) (1949-2021) Kariamu Welsh was a contemporary dancer and dance choreographer whose scholarship incorporated African and Diasporic aesthetics, sensibilities, and sensitivities, and was built on the belief that African …
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 …