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About Me

I am a Philadelphia native and historian who specializes in Race and Policing in post-1968 Urban America. My dissertation, “Hope and Struggle in the Policed Inner-City: Black Criminalization and Racial Capitalism in Philadelphia, 1914-1978,” explored how during the Great Migration of African Americans to the North, Philadelphia’s police department, journalists, and city officials used news media to disseminate crime narratives to convince the white middle-class to resist desegregation and support tough on crime policing in the inner city from 1958 to the present-day. Overall, my goals are to educate future generations and create new historical scholarship that is accessible and impactful to scholars and average citizens alike.

Recent Publications

Hope and Struggle in the Policed City: The Rise of Black Criminalization and Resistance in Philadelphia, New York: New York University Press, forthcoming

“Pools, gyms and libraries can make cities more livable for all,” Washington Post, July 20, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/made-by-history/2023/07/20/youth-inequality-public-recreation/

“Black Resistance and Lynching Memory: An Interview with Mari N. Crabtree Parts I & II,” Black Perspectives, May 2-3, 2023, https://www.aaihs.org/black-resistance-and-lynching-memory-an-interview-with-mari-n-crabtree-part-i/;https://www.aaihs.org/black-resistance-and-lynching-memory-an-interview-with-mari-n-crabtree-part-ii/.

“Black Homeownership Before World War II,” Black Perspectives, March 29, 2023, https://www.aaihs.org/black-homeownership-before-world-war-ii/.

“The Mystique of Chica da Silva,” Black Perspectives, February 24, 2023, https://www.aaihs.org/the-mystique-of-chica-da-silva/.

“Louis Congo: Ex-Slave and Executioner of Louisiana,” Black Perspectives, January 25, 2023, https://www.aaihs.org/louis-congo-ex-slave-and-executioner-of-louisiana/.

“‘Stop Talking and Act’: The Battle Between Tough on Crime Policing and Guardianship of Black Juvenile Gangs in Philadelphia, 1958-1969″ in the Journal of Urban History, edited by Walter C. Stern (Newbury Park: SAGE Publications, Jan. 2, 2023): 1-20.

“Marriage and Slavery in Colonial Venezuela,” Black Perspectives, October 17, 2022, https://www.aaihs.org/marriage-and-slavery-in-colonial-venezuela/.

“The legacy of decades of housing discrimination still plagues the U.S.,” Made by History, The Washington Post, June 21, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/06/21/legacy-decades-housing-discrimination-still-plagues-us/.

“Black Genealogy After Alex Haley’s Roots,” Black Perspectives, June 17, 2022, https://www.aaihs.org/black-genealogy-after-alex-haleys-roots/.

“La Afrovenezolanidad: A Historiography of the Black Experience in Venezuela,” Black Perspectives, March 30, 2022, https://www.aaihs.org/la-afrovenezolanidad-a-historiography-of-the-black-experience-in-venezuela/.

“Black Women, West Indian Networks, and US Immigration,” Black Perspectives, January 10, 2022, https://www.aaihs.org/black-women-west-indian-networks-and-us-immigration/.

“Addressing gun violence means considering solutions other than policing,” The Washington Post, July 29, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/07/29/addressing-gun-violence-means-considering-solutions-other-than-policing/. 

“Hyper-Segregation, Inequality, And Murder Rates–A Review of ‘The Ecology of Homicide,’” The Metropole, Urban History Association, June 14, 2021, https://themetropole.blog/2021/06/14/hyper-segregation-inequality-and-murder-rates-a-review-of-the-ecology-of-homicide/.

“B’more Authentic: Teaching Difficult History In The College Classroom,” The Metropole, Urban History Association, February 3, 2021, https://themetropole.blog/2021/02/03/bmore-authentic-teaching-difficult-history-in-the-college-classroom/.

“Rivalry in the Trenches: Philadelphia’s PAL and the Black Panther Party’s Efforts to Mold Black Youth into Their Own Image,” The Metropole, Urban History Association, September 23, 2020, https://themetropole.blog/2020/09/23/rivalry-in-the-trenches-philadelphias-pal-and-the-black-panther-partys-efforts-to-mold-black-youth-into-their-own-image/.

“Safe Streets, Inc. : The ‘Hustle’ to End Black Gang Violence in Philadelphia, 1969-1976,” Arlen Specter Center Research Fellowship, Thomas Jefferson University, February 2019, https://jdc.jefferson.edu/ascps_fellowship/2/.

Media Coverage

Social Media

@Philadelphian91

Country Focus

United States

Expertise by Geography

Caribbean, United States

Expertise by Chronology

Modern, 20th century, 21st century

Expertise by Topic

Children & Youth, Local & Regional, Migration & Immigration, Race, Urban History