Director’s Welcome
Africana Studies Welcome Letter 2025-2026
Greetings!
I hope that this message finds each of you as well as can be. As I welcome you to this new academic year, I am reminded again that Africana Studies is a discipline born of struggle, sustained by resilience, and committed to truth-telling in the face of injustice and abuses of power. This current political moment—with the inauguration of a new federal government and its ongoing, swiftly unfolding aftershocks, serves as a reminder of the urgency of our work.
We live in a time when the ideas we champion as well as the values we espouse—racial justice, gender equity, transgender rights, immigrant rights, and the dignity of Black life—are under unremitting attack. In the face of burgeoning authoritarianism, emboldened white nationalism, assaults on academic freedom, and the distortion of history for political gain, what are we as scholars of Black Studies to do? I believe that we must take care of ourselves, continue to be in community despite the challenges, and nourish the next generation just as our ancestors did. The time is ripe for a time organizing, creativity, and renewed determination of the work we do in Africana Studies.
In this climate, Africana Studies must be a sanctuary and a site of resistance. Here, we honor the intellectual traditions of our ancestors while innovating new frameworks to meet the challenges of the present. We affirm that scholarship is a form of activism, that classrooms can be sites of liberation, and that none of our work is possible without communities of struggle and care that are both local and global.
Over the summer, I read these words by the poet Rita Dove: “I think that without imagination we can go nowhere. And imagination is not something that’s just related to the arts. Every scientist that I have met who has been a success has had to imagine. You have to imagine it’s possible before you can see something.” Dove’s clear-eyed statement reminded me of the theme I chose for my first year as Director back in 2021: “Re-imagining Together.” I remain convinced that works of imagination can save us. As faculty, we are not only stewards of knowledge but also mentors, advocates, and co-conspirators in the fight for justice. Our students are a reminder of what the work of imagination can do and why it matters for all of us. We must continue to ask difficult questions, to teach with courage, and to create spaces where our students can imagine—and build—a world beyond oppression and erasure.
Due to the severe budget cuts facing our unit, this year will look very different for us in Africana. We will have to cancel some of our flagship programs like the annual bell hooks symposium; our postdoctoral fellowship will not be renewed; there will be no visiting artist in residence. These changes and many others throughout the network are cause for mourning, frustration, and anger. As we address these painful challenges, I also want to nurture our community, to focus on our students, and to continue doing the work of research and writing in our robust interdisciplinary field. I hope that all of you will join me in these commitments.
In the year ahead, may we strengthen our solidarity with one another, deepen our engagement with our communities, and remain unwavering in our commitment to truth, freedom, and the liberation of all Black people, everywhere.
With gratitude and in solidarity,