Research 

My research explores the intersections of race, immigration, identity, and law, with a focus on Black/African American and African immigrant communities navigating racialization, inequality, and justice. I examine how African immigrants respond to racial hierarchies and exclusion while shaping strategies for identity and mobility. My work also investigates how transnational ties and immigrant status influence racial identity, how Black immigrants experience criminalization, and how they resist legal and institutional constraints. By centering their lived experiences across global contexts, I offer comparative insights into how they adapt to and reshape systems of power. Beyond academia, I’m committed to public scholarship, currently documenting the life histories and advocacy of former juvenile lifers in Michigan. My broader goal is to inform racial justice, immigrant inclusion, and transformative legal reform through both scholarship and practice.

“Triple Consciousness: How Nigerian Immigrants Navigate Race, Identity, and Belonging”

Drawing on Du Bois’ concept of double consciousness, this study introduces the concept of triple consciousness—capturing how Nigerian immigrants reconcile their Nigerian identity, Black racial identities, and aspirations for integration into mainstream American society. Based on 28 semi-structured interviews with first-generation Nigerian immigrants, the findings reveal four key dynamics: (1) confronting Blackness in America, (2) navigating race within American social institutions, (3) gendered social and economic networks, and (4) the role of Nigerian cultural capital in navigating racial dynamics. While acknowledging anti-Black racism, participants adopt strategies such as racial avoidance, cultural distinctiveness, and meritocratic beliefs to navigate racial boundaries. By centering first-generation Nigerian immigrants, this study challenges monolithic understandings of Black identity, illustrating the intersectionality and heterogeneity within the Black diaspora. These findings contribute to Black immigrant studies by reframing racial identity in America as a fluid and contested construct, shaped by transnational identities, cultural and ethnic capital, as well as structural racial dynamics.