While I was earning my Master's degrees, I started teaching at California State University, Fullerton, in the Women and Gender Studies department. It was my first time teaching, and at first, I was nervous about leading a college class. But it didn't take long for me to realize that this was the passion I craved all my life! I fell in love with teaching and knew I wanted to continue doing it for the rest of my life.
After I gradauted from CGU, I started pursuing my PhD in African American and African diaspora studies at Indiana University. I had to cross the country again (this time, with a few month's notice), and I settled in my apartment right next to the university, making it perfect for a quick walk to class. I started teaching Survey of Black Culture and Indiana Black Ladership as I started researching my new project: Afro-Brazilians and Confederate families.
Learning about Confederate families in Brazil was such a shock to me! I saw an article headline that discussed Confederate descendants celebrating old Confederte holidays in Brazil, and I was so curious about so many things about it, especially how Black Brazilians felt about the celebrations. When I started researching, I learned that there hadn't been much discussions about Afro-Brazilians responding to the Confederates, at least not until recent years. But what about when they first arrived after the U.S. Civil War? As a native Alabamian, and someone who has always been curious about the Civil War, I wanted to pursue this investigation about Black Brazilians.
I was awarded a Fulbright grant to do just that! Since February 2023, I've been researching more about Afro-Brazilians between 1865 to 1915.
