Professor , College of Liberal Arts
+1 512 471 3261, +1 512 471 4193, drb@austin.utexas.edu

Daina Ramey Berry is Oliver H. Radkey Regents Professor of History and Chairperson of the History Department at the University of Texas at Austin. She is “a scholar of the enslaved” and a specialist on gender and slavery as well as Black women’s history in the United States. Berry is the award-winning author and editor of six books, including The Price for their Pound of Flesh: The Value of the Enslaved, from Womb to the Grave, in the Building of a Nation (Beacon Press, 2017).

Media Contact: Daniel Oppenheimer, oppenheimer@utexas.edu, 512-475-9712

Department Chair , Department of Educational Psychology , College of Education
+1 512 471 7498, kcokley@austin.utexas.edu

Kevin Cokley's research can be broadly categorized in the area of African American psychology, with a focus on racial and ethnic identity development, academic motivation and academic achievement. Cokley has a joint appointment in the College of Education's Department of Educational Psychology and the College of Liberal Arts' Department of African and African Diaspora Studies. He has written several Op-Eds in major media outlets including the St. Louis Post Dispatch, Dallas Morning News, San Antonio Express, The American Prospect, The Huffington Post, The Conversation and The Hill on topics such as Blacks rational mistrust of police, police shootings of Blacks, the aftermath of Ferguson, the use of school vouchers, racial disparities in school discipline, and Black students graduation rates.

Media Contact: Kendall Payne, kendall.payne@austin.utexas.edu,

Associate Professor , African and African Diaspora Studies Department , College of Liberal Arts
, adf@austin.utexas.edu

Dr. Ashley D. Farmer is a historian of Black women's history, intellectual history, and radical politics. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Departments of History and African and African Diaspora Studies. Her book, Remaking Black Power: How Black Women Transformed an Era  (UNC Press, 2017), is the first comprehensive study of black women's intellectual production and activism in the Black Power era.  She is also the co-editor of New Perspectives on the Black Intellectual Tradition (NUP Press, 2018), an anthology that examines four central themes within the black intellectual tradition: black internationalism, religion and spirituality, racial politics and struggles for social justice, and black radicalism. 

Media Contact: Daniel Oppenheimer, oppenheimer@utexas.edu, 512-475-9712

Executive Director of Commemorative and Contextualization Projects
, etgordon@austin.utexas.edu

Edmund T. Gordon is the founding (former) chair of the African and African Diaspora Studies Department, Professor of African and African Diaspora Studies & Executive Director of the Contextualization and Commemoration Initiative. His teaching and research interests include: Culture and power in the African Diaspora, gender studies (particularly Black males), critical race theory, race education, and the racial economy of space and resources.

Media Contact: Kathleen Harrison, ksharrison@utexas.edu, 512-232-3723

Professor , Lyndon B Johnson School of Public Affairs
+1 512 475 7241, peniel.joseph@austin.utexas.edu

Peniel Joseph is the founding director of the LBJ School's Center for the Study of Race and Democracy (CSRD). His career focus has been on "Black Power Studies," which encompasses interdisciplinary fields such as Africana studies, law and society, women's and ethnic studies, and political science. In addition to being a frequent commentator on issues of race, democracy and civil rights, Dr. Joseph's most recent book is The Sword and the Shield: The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.

Media Contact: Tori Yu, victoriajyu@austin.utexas.edu, 512-232-4054

Director, Community-Driven Initiatives , Office of the Vice President for Campus and Community Engagement
+1 512 471 7683, stephanielang@austin.utexas.edu

Stephanie Lang leads Equity and Community Advocacy for the University of Texas Center for Community Engagement. Lang worked for the John L Warfield Center for African & African American Studies at the University of Texas for over 14 years. In her position as Program Administrator, she created community-centered programming that fostered relationships between UT and Austin community organizations through collaborations, shared resources, and other forms of support. Lang also founded RECLAIM, an organization that works to discover, recover and ultimately showcase the narratives and histories of black people throughout the diaspora, and present these findings through an artistic and thought-provoking lens.

Director , John L. Warfield Center for African and African American Studies
+1 512 471 4745, makalani@austin.utexas.edu

Minkah Makalani’s research and teaching focus on intellectual history, black political thought, radical social movements, Caribbean independence, Black Power, race and racial identity, and hip-hop. His first book, In the Cause of Freedom: Radical Black Internationalism from Harlem to London, 1917-1939 (University of North Carolina Press, 2011), examines the black radical encounter within organized Marxism among early twentieth century Caribbean radicals in Harlem and London, and considers how these activist-intellectuals drew on their experiences of racial oppression, colonial domination, and diasporic interactions prompted their independent political organizing and informed their engagement with western radical thought to articulate a black internationalist politics.

Professor , Department of Government , College of Liberal Arts
+1 512 232 7268, emcdaniel@austin.utexas.edu

Eric McDaniel specializes in American politics. His research areas include religion and politics, Black politics, and organizational behavior. His work targets how and why Black religious institutions choose to become involved in political matters. In addition, his work targets the role of religious institutions in shaping Black political behavior.

Media Contact: Daniel Oppenheimer, oppenheimer@utexas.edu, 512-475-9712

Professor , Department of Government , College of Liberal Arts
+1 512 232 3681, +1 512 471 5121, tphilpot@austin.utexas.edu

Tasha Philpot has spent over 15 years in academia as an award winning author, advisor, and educator. Philpot is a Professor of Government at the University of Texas at Austin, where she is also affiliated with the Center for African and African American Studies, the Institute for Urban Policy Research & Analysis, and the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies.  Dr. Philpot’s research focuses on the conditions that enable marginalized groups in American society to function in a more democratic system.

Media Contact: Daniel Oppenheimer, oppenheimer@utexas.edu, 512-475-9712

Professor Emeritus , Department of History , College of Liberal Arts
, jekwalker@austin.utexas.edu

Juliet Walker's teaching fields include African American history, Antebellum Slavery, Black Business History and Political Economy, Black Intellectual history and African American Women's history.

Media Contact: Daniel Oppenheimer, oppenheimer@utexas.edu, 512-475-9712

Black Diaspora Archivist , UT Libraries
+1 512 495 4391, rwinston@austin.utexas.edu

Rachel Winston is the inaugural Black Diaspora Archivist at UT Austin. Winston leads efforts, working with faculty and other library professionals, to establish the Black Diaspora archive, to be housed at the Benson Latin American Collection.