About Me

Ashley Crooks-Allen (They/Them) is the Du Bois-Mandela-Rodney/NCID Fellow in the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies (DAAS) at the University of Michigan. They earned a Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of Georgia, where they focused on Black immigrant identity and social movements. Their dissertation is titled, “Mestizaje Undone: A Qualitative Social Media Analysis of Afro-Latinx Identity & Social Movements.” This work takes a qualitative approach to understand how Afro-Latinx people use social media to make identity claims in relation to the Black Lives Matter Movement.

Their master's research, also at the University of Georgia, focused on Afro-Caribbean Identity & Experiences with the Black Lives Matter Movement in Georgia. They also completed a graduate certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies. They graduated from Emory University with a major in creative writing and a minor in sociology. While at Emory, they were a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow.

Ashley is from Irvington, NJ, and is of Afro-Costa Rican descent. Their interest in Black migratory identity formation developed while living the effects of their parents migrating to the U.S. and settling into Black prescribed spaces. In conjunction with academia, they also devote time to spoken word poetry and activism.