Did you know that the term “Identity Politics” was coined by the Combahee River Collective in their iconic Statement of who they are and what they do?

How then, did “identity politics” become a synonym for naive and politically ineffectual performative activism?

I am a PhD Student in the philosophy department at Michigan State University. I expect to graduate in the Spring of 2022.

Though my formal degree is in philosophy, my research is interdisciplinary and takes place at the intersections and interstices between political theory, Black feminist theory, Indigenous studies, science-fiction studies, and queer theory.

I am looking forward to contributing to Black feminist conversations where they happen, both on campus and off. I'm most interested in contributing to spaces that are thinking about role that Black feminist theory in the prison abolition movements, labour organising efforts in the U.S. and Canada, and public cultural critique about the accomplishments and merits of Black women rappers (especially Megan Thee Stallion and Rico Nasty).

“‘A Huge Leap of Faith In the Future’: Black feminist identity politics from Barbara Smith to N.K. Jemisin”

I came into grad school with a fairly clear idea of what I wanted to do, so even though I administratively can’t advance to candidacy until the fall semester 2021, I can tell you now what I’m working on.

My dissertation project, tentatively titled “‘A Huge Leap of Faith In the Future’”: Black Feminist Identity Politics from Barbara Smith to N.K. Jemisin” aims at reclaiming “Identity Politics” as the radical queer Black feminist political practice it was meant to be when originally articulated by the Combahee River Collective. I map out core functions of identity in Black feminist conceptions of political consciousness and movement building, and track these functions across Black women and queer people’s science fiction and speculative fiction. I hope to complicate the current academic discourse on what it means to have an identity politics, and use sci-fi and spec-lit to help us begin turning towards a practice that properly respects and responds to, the contributions of queer Black folks and queer Black women in theory and culture.

The title comes from Edwidge Danticat’s memoir, Brother, I’m Dying. In it she writes, “On the other hand, bringing a child into the world seemed to be about anything but death. It was a huge leap of faith in the future, an acknowledgment that one would somehow continue to exist.” — location:205 in the Kindle edition

I am aiming to defend my thesis in the Spring of 2022. But with this pandemic, well…we’ll see!

(I have papers that in various stages of writing/conference or journal submission/review. However, I have received deeply conflicting advice about whether or not, and if so how, to share the contents of works in progress other than dissertation manuscripts. As a particularly junior scholar and minoritized person, I have decided to err on the side of caution and wait until a piece is at least forthcoming before sharing it here.)