My research focuses on African American history and the wider history of the black Atlantic. I am particularly interested in the long history of interconnections and exchange between Africa and America, a history that began in the earliest days of the transatlantic slave trade and continues into our own time. In recent years, my research has also moved in the direction of so-called “public history.” I am intrigued by the ways in which societies tell stories about their pasts, not only in textbooks and academic monographs but also in historic sites, museums, memorials, movies, and political movements.
