Black Artists of Boston

The Black Artists of Boston Project began as a collaborative endeavor between a graduate class at Northeastern University, a local performance artist Dzidzor Azaglo, and a group of community elders, who as artists, have been working in and around Boston for over thirty years. Professors Lee and Nieves were tasked with creating a new oral history and ethnography course for graduate students in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities (CSSH) that would develop their skills in the craft of ethnography while also training them to integrate community members and values into their work.

Black Artists of Boston Website

Project Leads

Ángel David Nieves

Professor of Africana Studies, History, and Digital Humanities; Director of Public Humanities

Ángel David Nieves is Professor of Africana Studies, History, and Digital Humanities in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities (CSSH) at Northeastern University and is an Affiliate Professor in the Department of English and in the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs.

Doreen Lee

Acting Director of the Asia and the World Program; Associate Professor of Anthropology

Doreen Lee is associate professor of anthropology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. Lee writes, researches, and teaches about urban politics, Southeast Asia, and critical theory.

Dzidzor Azaglo

Community Partnership Coordinator

Dzidzor (Jee-Jaw) is a Ghanian-American folklore, performing artist, author, and curator. Dzidzor's style of call and response has combined traditional storytelling in Afro-folklore and Poetry Slam through a sonic experience. Dzidzor is moved by the responsibility to alarm the power/abundance in the midst of bodies while creating a practice of care and freedom through creativity. Dzidzor is the founder of Black Cotton Club and partners with Grubstreet, ICA Boston, and Boston Public Schools to teach creative empowerment workshops in Boston.

Reckonings Co-Creation Team

Victoria Dey

Research Assistant, Ph.D. Student in History

Victoria earned her B.A. in French and International Relations from the University of Rochester in 2021 and began the World History doctoral program at Northeastern University the following semester. Victoria’s research interests include the intentional modern manipulations of French memory during times of conflict that continue to influence race relations , identity, and other aspects of French society.

Savita Maharaj

Research Assistant, Ph.D. Student at Brandeis

Savita Maharaj is an English Ph.D. student at Brandeis University specializing in contemporary and eighteenth-century Caribbean history and literature, archival theory, critical histories of race and gender, decolonial methods, and postcolonial theory. She graduated from Northeastern University with a BA in English in May 2022.

Rose-Laura Meus

Research Assistant, B.A. Candidate, International Affairs and History

Rose-Laura Meus is currently a B.A. Candidate in International Affairs and History at Northeastern University who is also pursuing an M.A. in World History

Titilayo Odedele

Research Assistant, Sociology PhD Student

Titilayo Odedele is a graduate of Boston College, where she received her BA in Sociology, and Northeastern University, where she received her MS in Criminology and Criminal Justice. Her research interests include the sociology of law, historical sociology, and the sociology of labor with a regional focus on the Black Atlantic.

Shavaun Sutton

Research Assistant, Sociology PhD Student

Shavaun Sutton is a second-year doctoral student. She holds a master’s in public health in Community Health Sciences from SUNY Downstate School of Public Health. She strives to promote equity via the analysis of nuanced narratives and lived experience. Seeking to amplify voices silenced by oppression and marginalization, Shavaun critically engaged with Black girl- and womanhood, state-sanctioned violence, and erasure as epistemic violence, particularly the erasure of Black narratives in white-majority spaces, through the lens of Black Feminist Thought.

Vanessa Torres

Research Assistant, Ph.D. Student in History

Vanessa (She/Her/Ella) graduated from University of California, Irvine with a Bachelor of Arts in Chicana/o/x-Latina/o/x Studies with a double minor in Latin American Studies and Literary Journalism in 2021. She was a part of the approx. top 2% in the Social Sciences recognized with the Order of Merit Award, Caesar D. Sereseres Outstanding Service Award, and Outstanding Chicano/Latino Community Engagement Award for her academic excellence, leadership activities, service contributions, and original research.

Janika Dillon

Research Assistant, Ph.D. Student in History

Janika Dillon graduated with honors from Brigham Young University (BYU) with a B.A. in Communications and a minor in German. She then completed a joint master's degree in Organizational Behavior and International Development from the BYU Marriott School of Business. Janika is now pursuing an M.A. in Public History at Northeastern.

Allison Donine

Research Assistant, Ph.D. Student in Sociology

Allison Donine is a third-year PhD student and member of the Social Science Environmental Health Research Institute (SSEHRI). Allison received an en-route MA in Sociology from Northeastern University and a BA in Environmental Policy from Pitzer College. She has previously worked with the American Red Cross and served as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines. Allison’s current research explores community responses to disasters using a combination of network analysis and qualitative methods. She is currently investigating how members of the education sector utilize existing social ties to adapt and respond to challenges caused by disruptive events. Areas of Research/Interest: Disaster sociology, gender, education, social network analysis, environmental health, and social movements.

Anna Zhang

Research Assistant, Ph.D. Student in Sociology

Anna Zhang is a second-year Sociology PhD student in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. Anna completed her BA in History and Sociology with a minor in East Asian Studies at Simmons University in Boston, MA.

Callie Hansson

Research Assistant, Ph.D. Student in Criminology

Callie Hansson is a doctoral student at Northeastern in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Previously, they attended the University of Massachusetts, Amherst where they earned a B.A. in Journalism.

Giorgia Shields

Research Assistant, Ph.D. Student in Sociology

Giorgia Shields joined Northeastern’s sociology Ph.D. program in the Fall of 2019. She holds a B.A. in sociology from Georgia State University, and an M.A. in women’s and gender studies from the University of Texas at Austin.

Miranda Melson

Research Assistant, Ph.D. Student in Sociology

Miranda Melson joined Northeastern’s Sociology Ph.D program in 2020 and earned her B.A. in sociology, French, and global studies at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

Morgan Richards

Research Assistant, Master's Student in History

Morgan Richards graduated from Boston University in 2019 with a B.A. in the History of Art and Architecture and a minor in French. She is currently pursing an M.A. in Public History at Northeastern University.

Thomas Larose

Research Assistant, Master's Student in History

Thomas Larose spent the last three and a half years serving as an Armor Officer in the United States Army, based out of Fort Hood, TX. Prior to commissioning he attended Clark University in Worcester, MA where he graduated Cum Laude in 2017, with a B.A in American History. He currently pursuing Master in history at Notheastern University.