I’m a senior academic, journalist, media and equality specialist whose work is largely focused on equality and social justice in higher education and the wider society.
Over the years I have developed a number of projects to diversify the media, including People With Voices (2008-2013) an online journalism project funded by UnLtd to increase participation in the news industry among the most under-represented groups. Black Bloggers UK & International Network (2011-2013) was developed to support my doctoral research on Black Bloggers in the UK. Both websites have been archived by the British Library.
My 2007 book, Layers of Blackness: Colourism in the African Diaspora, was the first major work on colourism by a UK author and has continued to attract worldwide attention. I converted it into a free electronic resource two years after publication to increase accessibility and it has since had over 10,000 views on Academia.edu.
My journalistic work is focused on giving voice to the perspectives and experiences of marginalised groups and articulating issues around inequality. I’ve written for a variety of publications including Times Higher Education, Guardian, Independent, Red Pepper and Parliamentary Monitor. Between 2004 and 2008 I served as Editor of Colourful Network prior to its conversion to online radio.
I established Black British Academics in 2013 as a pro-active, influential network of intellectuals and scholar activists committed to tackling racial inequality in higher education through collective activism and collaborative research and serve as its Director.
I’m currently based at Bournemouth University in the Faculty of Media and Communication. I’m an award-winning specialist in social justice pedagogy and critical race pedagogy, teaching from a critical race/gender standpoint, and creator of the 3D Pedagogy Framework to decolonize, democratize and diversify the higher education curriculum. In 2017 and 2016 I received ‘You’re Brilliant’ awards run by our Student Union where students vote for staff they feel have made an outstanding contribution to their learning and/or university experience. In 2018 I won the Award in Academic Excellence in the Dorset Ethnic Minority Awards and won the Staff Member of the Year Award in the Student Union BME Awards.
My research falls into two distinct areas. The first is concerned with the dynamics of race, ethnicity and culture in higher education and pedagogical research centred on decolonising, democratising and diversifying the curriculum. The second is concerned with the politics of racialised identity, especially counterhegemonic practice and race and representation in media and popular culture. I developed the Ivory Tower project on race and gender equality for Black British Academics and I’m co-editor of the best-selling book: Inside the Ivory Tower: Narratives of Women of Colour Surviving and Thriving in British Academia. I’m currently leading a team of 10 researchers working on the sequel: Transforming the Ivory Tower: Models for Gender Equality and Social Justice, a volume I am editing and contributing to, due for completion in October 2019.
I’ve presented my research at international conferences around the world including Paris, Dubai, Buffalo New York State, Hawaii, Washington DC, New York, Austin Texas, and Toronto. In 2013 I won the James Thomas Memorial Prize for Best Paper by a postgraduate student at the Media and Politics Group annual conference.
In addition to leading institutional change around race equality through Black British Academics (twice short-listed in 2015 & 2018 in the Inclusive Companies Awards as Best Diversity Resource), I serve on a number of international external advisory and editorial boards as well as internal committees within my institution, including the Race Equality Charter Steering Group.
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Last updated: April 2019
orcid.org/0000-0001-9278-1673
