RESEARCH OVERVIEW
Broadly speaking as an Americanist, my research focuses on the electoral and non-electoral political participation of African Americans in the United States and abroad. The nature and affect of race on these developments are of particular interest. I am interested in African American politics and southern politics, specifically the Civil Rights Movement and rural Black Belt politics. Routledge has expressed an interest in publishing a book based on my dissertation which focuses on the process of political development in the rural Black Belt South. I am in the process of developing a proposal for this project. Moreover, recent developments in political science and interdisciplinary research stimulated my interest in globalization and transnationalism as critical trends in African American politics. Indeed, it is the confluence of domestic and international politics, which precipitated my research dealing with African Americans in global affairs. I am completing a manuscript focusing on the logic, nature, and impact of African Americans in foreign affairs and foreign policy-making. More than halfway complete, this book is a companion to African Americans and Global Affairs: Contemporary Perspectives, an edited volume published fall 2010 by Northeastern University Press
My work focusing on transnational structures, including social movements, provides an opportunity to examine comparatively the intersections of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement with non-violent global social movements. However, given the growing significance of non-Western ethnicities nationally and globally, I also consider within this broad context the implications and impact of multiculturalism. In this vein, in recent years my research has taken a necessary and deliberate turn toward African American global participation, with an emphasis on the transnational structures facilitating participation and the diffusion of ideas and approaches to achieve social justice. In short, my work strives to bridge the chasm existing between the study of the domestic and international participation of people of African descent in the United States.
My recent publications are listed in the left menu on this page.
