"Theory without practice is just as incomplete as practice without theory. The two have to go together.” ~ Assata Shakur (1987)

        This quote by Assata Shakur is foundational to how I approach my research, teaching, and practice. I believe that for each to be successful there must be a synergistic relationship where each influences one another. Through my experiences as a social worker and higher education professional I have witnessed first-hand the ways youth, families and communities of color have been systemically neglected, oppressed, and excluded.

 

        As such, my research elucidates complex systemic inequities within educational and carceral systems, while centering the voices of underrepresented youth to begin to create and re-imagine systems as spaces of support, learning, and resources for minoritized communities. Moreover, I bring with me an expertise in critical frameworks such as anti-Blackness, Black feminist theory, intersectionality, and critical race theories which are at the core of the rigorous qualitative inquiry I engage in, the methods I use, and the communities I conduct research alongside.​

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