I have always loved books. Books made me feel like I was traveling, experiencing new places, people, and ideas. And I love to travel. I also love my dog, Pepper Lebeija Angelo Davis (names after two icons!). I am the first person in my family who was born in the United States. I was born in Chicago; my parents and older sisters were born in Guyana.

I grew up in Baltimore and graduated from an all female public school, Western High School. In high school, I read James Baldwin and I knew I had to come to New York (I wanted to go to night clubs and write poetry). I came to New York for college and then back to Baltimore where I earned my Ph.D. I have published a lot–mostly about African American literature and feminism. Right now, I am revising a new book on censorship and surveillance of Black writers in the 1950s. In this new project, I am excited to tell some of the stories about how folks like Langston Hughes and Alice Childress resisted state control as acts in the service of Black freedom. I love teaching at Baruch.