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Africana Studies Program

Imani Karpowich-Smith

Visual Content Creator

Department of Cultures, Societies, and Global Studies; Africana Studies

Imani Karpowich-Smith is an interdisciplinary artist, filmmaker, and library worker from the East Bay. Earning her BFA and a BA in Ethnic Studies from Mills College, Smith combines these two frameworks to break down investigations into societal structures. Her practice examines her interactions with the world; always seeming to exist between everything and nothing and having to prove she is real. With core themes of identity, Smith allows the work to evolve across mediums from drawings, comics, sculpture, experimental video and documentary, to installation.

Smith was invited to feature work at the David Brower Center within the Earth Echoes Virtual Gallery by Cherie Hill IrieDance with her video piece, Home.Land, which examines the environment of the Black body through her own family’s migration story from Mississippi. Her video/sound installation, We’ve Always Been Here, a four-year series of collected interviews discussing the American Multiracial experience debuted at the Mills College Art Museum. And her student film, “Nappy” Makes me Happy, was featured in the 5th annual Greater Cleveland Urban Film Festival.

Fascinated by why humans love stories so much, Smith is passionate about telling stories from those who feel invisible. Using art as a tool to convey emotions, heal wounds, and build deeper connections within communities. She continues to create her own work and cultivate collaborative works with other artists in the Bay Area.

Related Schools & Departments

Imani ’s Colleagues

Nicole Aljoe

Professor of English and Africana Studies
Headshot of Kwamina Panford

Kwamina Panford

Emeritus Associate Professor of Cultures, Societies and Global Studies
Headshot of Nina Sylvanus

Nina Sylvanus

Associate Professor of Anthropology
Headshot of Richard Wamai

Richard Wamai

Professor of Cultures, Societies and Global Studies
Headshot of Richard O'Bryant

Richard L. O'Bryant

Director of the John D. O'Bryant African American Institute; Research Associate of the Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy; Advisory Board Member, Humanities Center
Headshot of Sheila Winborne

Sheila Winborne

Teaching Professor of Religion
Margaret Burnham named Carnegie fellow

Margaret Burnham

University Distinguished Professor of Law and Affiliate Professor of Africana Studies

Tiffany Joseph

Associate Professor of Sociology and International Affairs; Graduate Program Director, Sociology
Headshot of Matt Lee

Matthew Lee

Teaching Professor of Human Services

N. Fadeke Castor

Assistant Professor of Religion and Africana Studies

Patricia Davis

Associate Professor of Communications Studies, CAMD

In Memoriam Ángel David Nieves

Dean’s Professor of Public and Digital Humanities and Professor of Africana Studies and History

Kabria Baumgartner

Dean’s Associate Professor of History and Africana Studies; Associate Director of Public History

Régine Michelle Jean-Charles

Director of Africana Studies, Dean’s Professor of Culture and Social Justice, and Professor of Africana Studies and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies

Layla Brown

Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology & Africana Studies