Alicia Odewale (Ware) is an educator, African Diaspora Archaeologist, Restorative Justice advocate, and the founder of Archaeology Rewritten, an archaeological and educational consulting firm. As a National Geographic Explorer, she shares how both tangible and intangible Black heritage can be observed through the natural world using maps, objects, oral histories, archival records, sacred landscapes, and heritage trees. Dr. Odewale’s research focuses on African heritage sites in the U.S. and Caribbean, with an emphasis on community-centered, restorative justice, anti-racist, and Black feminist archaeology.

She is a fierce advocate for the inclusion of archaeology in the classroom and in the history of Black heritage across the global diaspora. She has created two new courses at The University of Houston, “Finding Black Ancestors” and the new course that’s become a viral sensation “Before Cowboy Carter: Black Towns, Black Freedom.” Dr. Odewale holds undergraduate degrees from Westminster College and advanced degrees from The University of Tulsa (TU). As a descendant of history makers that include soldiers, entrepreneurs, educators, farmers, doctors, and survivors from Black Towns such as Greenwood, OK “Black Wall Street” and Tuskegee, AL, she has made history herself as the first person of African descent to earn a PhD in anthropology from TU and later became the first Black faculty member in TU’s Anthropology Department.