As an African Diaspora Archaeologist, I research sites of African heritage in the US and Caribbean region, ranging from the US Virgin Islands to my home state of Oklahoma. My latest project, Mapping Historical Trauma in Tulsa from 1921-2021, uses archaeology to understand more about the survivance of Greenwood and Black community resilience in the wake of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
My passion for teaching and mentoring spans all levels of education, from elementary to PhD. Hailing from a long line of educators, I use archaeology both inside and outside of the classroom as a lens to view but also change history. Teaching online and in-person through the National Geographic Explorer Classroom, the Black History Saturdays program, and the Oklahoma Scholar-Leadership Enrichment Program (OSLEP), and Rice University, my courses aim to share the discipline of African Diaspora archaeology with the world.
As a National Geographic Explorer, Featured Speaker for National Geographic LIVE and Lead Tulsa Storyteller for 2892 Miles to Go: Geographic Walk for Justice, I am grateful to be able to share the power of archaeology and Black community resilience through my National Geographic Live show “Greenwood: A Century of Resilience", as well as an ongoing partnership with HBCUs and the Disney on the Yard program. Leading up to this national speaking tour, I also starred in the Emmy Award winning documentary, “Dreamland: The Burning of Black Wall Street”
As a Black woman, a wife, a mom, an archaeologist, and a native Tulsan, who is ancestrally connected to my research, my ongoing mission is to advocate for diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and justice within the field of archaeology as well as the inclusion of archaeology in classrooms around the world.
Through my role as a board member for the Nat Geo Oklahoma Advisory Council and leader of the non-profit organization, The Greenwood Diaspora Project, I now work alongside a team of community advocates to both recognize and fill in gaps in funding for students and teachers in North Tulsa while sharing a mission to reconnect families across the Greenwood Diaspora back to their roots in Oklahoma.
My work as an advocate extends to my new book project, Restorative Justice Archaeology: Searching for Life in Landscapes of Trauma. A book that explores the power of restorative justice archaeology to uncover and move through historical trauma in the Historic Greenwood District while finding myself in the process. My literary works are represented by Kayla Lightner at Ayesha Pande Literary.
