I am a historian of African American history and study the relationship of religion, race, and masculinity, and religion in twentieth-century Black freedom movements in the United States and throughout the world.

I graduated from Brigham Young University (2012) with a BA in America Studies, an MA in Religious Studies from the University of Virginia (2014), and a Ph.D. in History from the University of Utah (2022). I am currently Assistant Professor of History at Brigham Young University.

I teach courses in US history, family history, the US South, American religious history, and genetic genealogy. I have also taught courses on professionalization for undergraduate and graduate students.

My research examines Black opposition to integration through the lens of the Nation of Islam’s history from the Great Depression to Obama’s America, examining how the religious group viewed itself as a colonized nation governed by a hostile US empire. Derived from extensive research in archives, oral histories, and media sources, I provide fresh insight into the many approaches to achieving Black freedom in the United States and the world.