Associate Professor, Language, Literacy and Culture (LLC)
“My research currently is centered on disrupting deficit narratives about Black males throughout the educational pipeline (PK-PhD) by showcasing how Black men succeed in educational settings. Moreover, given the connection between K-12 schools and higher education, my research explores policies and practices that lead to a more racially diverse K-12 educator workforce as teachers of color have been found to be instrumental in the academic trajectory of Black male students. Lastly, because at heart I am a practitioner and want my work to have impact beyond just research I do a lot of work via social media around cultivating the academic writing skills and confidence of doctoral students and early career faculty through my Done Dissertation organization. My mission is to support at least 1,000 doctoral students through the dissertation process through my books, workshops, and programming.
Being a Black man in America, DEIA work is not just something I talk about, but I live it. I grew up under highly adverse circumstances that would have suggested I would be another statistic. And because of my upbringing and being in education spaces (and society at large) where I was looked at as a “problem” I have dedicated my life’s work to ensuring that when K-12 and higher education teachers and professionals look at their Black male students they see their brilliance rather than the negative imagery society paints on Black boys and men. Thus, my research, teaching, and service at its core is to ensure education spaces that were not meant for the Ramon Goings’ of the world are inclusive and not just allow us to have a seat at the table, but to create an entirely new table altogether.”
