This audio essay is a reflection of how my research is beginning to evolve. We will listen to a clip on Nina Simone, a brief reflection examining artistic depictions of Blackness, and a previously-shared segment of an interview with Professor Korka Sall (PhD). My hope is for this short episode to explore creative representations of freedom. This Audio Essay & Reflection was originally created as a Final Creative Project for Columbia University's Graduate Course (African and African American Studies): "Beyond Black is the Journey, Narrating the History, the Culture, and the Self," taught by Dr. Maboula Soumahoro (PhD). 

In the fall of 2022, I started classes as a PhD student. My research is rooted in social advocacy, creativity, and theory. I focus on uncovering self-curated mediums of self expression like Black hair as the root of Pan-Africanism, and I hope to continue this research while sparking conversation in different contexts, cultures and classes while using poetry, podcasts, theatre, film and the arts as a tool to connect with a broader community.