First, a bit about me and how I got here:
I was born in New Orleans in 1997; in my opinion, there is nothing quite like the diverse peoples and beautiful city I was born in. I still visit New Orleans and my extended family as often as possible, and I credit the city– alongside its troubling, racist past–with sparking my passion for public history and activism.
When I was but a wee baby, we moved to Sykesville, MD, a suburban town just outside of Baltimore (about 1-1.5 hours north of AU). Through elementary, middle, and high school, I likely read all the history books that my schools’ media centers and the public library had to offer. When I took a moment to put the books down, I loved performing in theatrical productions. I was often lucky enough to share the stage with my wonderful girlfriend–now of five years–Mallorie.
I received my B.A. in History and Economics in May 2019 from McDaniel College, a tiny liberal arts college located in nearby Westminster, MD. Given the recent removal of Confederate statues from public spaces, a movement that originated in New Orleans at the behest of the community and Mayor Mitch Landrieu, I had originally intended to focus on collected memory and the underrepresentation of black history in memorials as my undergraduate colloquium. However, a suggestion from my professor led me to focus my studies on lynchings; soon after, I found that lynchings had received very little scholarly consideration beyond the Deep South. I focused my study on lynchings in Maryland, and I am currently working with the Maryland Lynching Memorial Project, EJI, and a committee of concerned members of the public to work towards reconciliation. With suggestions from the public and descendants, reconciliation will begin with markers, soil collection, and memorials in remembrance of Townsend Cook, who was lynched in Westminster, MD.
My scholarly interests at AU include black intellectual tradition and history, racial terror lynchings and associated injustices/reconciliation, as well as activism that works towards decolonizing archives and museums. I am really looking forward to taking this class–I enrolled in a new media class at McDaniel and although it was unrelated to history, it was one of the more compelling undergraduate courses I took. I am also very much looking forward to the interdisciplinary aspects of this course–bridging the challenging gap between the public and history through accessible media.
Outside of the classroom, and when I am not cursing myself over the self-inflicted commute from MD to DC, I have many passions: coaching early morning Crossfit, working as the Graduate Ambassador for CAS at AU, doing research at the National Archives for a small non-profit, and playing with my dog Nola.
