Juneteenth


As Juneteenth is celebrated throughout the United States, experts at The University of Texas at Austin are available to discuss a range of topics, from the origins and history of the Texas-born holiday to its impact today. 

If you are seeking expertise on other subjects, please call University Media Relations at 512-471-3151 or consult our general Media Experts Guide.



Juneteenth


Ashley  Farmer

Ashley Farmer

Associate Professor , African and African Diaspora Studies Department , College of Liberal Arts
, adf@austin.utexas.edu

Dr. Ashley D. Farmer is a historian of Black women's history, intellectual history, and radical politics. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Departments of History and African and African Diaspora Studies. Her book, Remaking Black Power: How Black Women Transformed an Era  (UNC Press, 2017), is the first comprehensive study of black women's intellectual production and activism in the Black Power era.  She is also the co-editor of New Perspectives on the Black Intellectual Tradition (NUP Press, 2018), an anthology that examines four central themes within the black intellectual tradition: black internationalism, religion and spirituality, racial politics and struggles for social justice, and black radicalism. 

Media Contact: Daniel Oppenheimer, oppenheimer@utexas.edu, 512-475-9712

Edmund T Gordon

Edmund T Gordon

Executive Director of Commemorative and Contextualization Projects
, etgordon@austin.utexas.edu

Edmund T. Gordon is the founding (former) chair of the African and African Diaspora Studies Department, Professor of African and African Diaspora Studies & Executive Director of the Contextualization and Commemoration Initiative. His teaching and research interests include: Culture and power in the African Diaspora, gender studies (particularly Black males), critical race theory, race education, and the racial economy of space and resources.

Media Contact: Kathleen Harrison, ksharrison@utexas.edu, 512-232-3723

Peniel E Joseph

Peniel E Joseph

Professor , Lyndon B Johnson School of Public Affairs
+1 512 475 7241, peniel.joseph@austin.utexas.edu

Peniel Joseph is the founding director of the LBJ School's Center for the Study of Race and Democracy (CSRD). His career focus has been on "Black Power Studies," which encompasses interdisciplinary fields such as Africana studies, law and society, women's and ethnic studies, and political science. In addition to being a frequent commentator on issues of race, democracy and civil rights, Dr. Joseph's most recent book is The Sword and the Shield: The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.

Media Contact: Tori Yu, victoriajyu@austin.utexas.edu, 512-232-4054

Stephanie L Lang

Stephanie L Lang

Director, Community Relations
+1 512 471 7683, stephanielang@austin.utexas.edu

Stephanie Lang leads Equity and Community Advocacy for the University of Texas Center for Community Engagement. Lang worked for the John L Warfield Center for African & African American Studies at the University of Texas for over 14 years. In her position as Program Administrator, she created community-centered programming that fostered relationships between UT and Austin community organizations through collaborations, shared resources, and other forms of support. Lang also founded RECLAIM, an organization that works to discover, recover and ultimately showcase the narratives and histories of black people throughout the diaspora, and present these findings through an artistic and thought-provoking lens.

Eric L McDaniel

Eric L McDaniel

Professor , Department of Government , College of Liberal Arts
+1 512 232 7268, emcdaniel@austin.utexas.edu

Eric McDaniel specializes in American politics. His research areas include religion and politics, Black politics, and organizational behavior. His work targets how and why Black religious institutions choose to become involved in political matters. In addition, his work targets the role of religious institutions in shaping Black political behavior.

Media Contact: Daniel Oppenheimer, oppenheimer@utexas.edu, 512-475-9712

Tasha S Philpot

Tasha S Philpot

Professor , Department of Government , College of Liberal Arts
+1 512 232 3681, +1 512 471 5121, tphilpot@austin.utexas.edu

Tasha Philpot has spent over 15 years in academia as an award winning author, advisor, and educator. Philpot is a Professor of Government at the University of Texas at Austin, where she is also affiliated with the Center for African and African American Studies, the Institute for Urban Policy Research & Analysis, and the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies.  Dr. Philpot’s research focuses on the conditions that enable marginalized groups in American society to function in a more democratic system.

Media Contact: Daniel Oppenheimer, oppenheimer@utexas.edu, 512-475-9712

Rachel E Winston

Rachel E Winston

Black Diaspora Archivist , UT Libraries
+1 512 495 4391, rwinston@austin.utexas.edu

Rachel Winston is the inaugural Black Diaspora Archivist at UT Austin. Winston leads efforts, working with faculty and other library professionals, to establish the Black Diaspora archive, to be housed at the Benson Latin American Collection.

For more information, contact: University Communications, Office of the President, 512-471-3151.