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Dr. Yaba Blay is a
Ghanaian-American professor, scholar-activist, public speaker, cultural worker, and consultant. She is originally from
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
, West Africa, and was raised in
,
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. Her scholarship, work, and practice centers on the lived experiences of
Black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...
women and girls, with a particular focus on identity politics and beauty practices. Lauded by ''
O Magazine
''O, The Oprah Magazine'', also known simply as ''O'', is an American monthly magazine founded by talk show host Oprah Winfrey and Hearst Communications.
Overview
It was first published on April 19, 2000. , its average paid circulation wa ...
'' for her social media activism, she has launched several viral campaigns, including
Locks of Love, #PrettyPeriod, and #ProfessionalBlackGirl, in her multi-platform digital community.
In 2012, Dr. Blay served as a producer on
CNN's television documentary, “Who is Black in America?". She has since been named one of today's leading Black voices by ‘The Root 100’, and ''
Essence
Essence ( la, essentia) is a polysemic term, used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property or set of properties that make an entity or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it ...
'' Magazine's ‘Woke 100.’ She has appeared on
Good Morning America,
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
,
BET
Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...
,
MSNBC
MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and politi ...
,
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, and
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
. Her work has also been featured in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', ''
EBONY
Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when ...
'', ''
Essence
Essence ( la, essentia) is a polysemic term, used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property or set of properties that make an entity or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it ...
'', ''
Fast Company
''Fast Company'' is a monthly American business magazine published in print and online that focuses on technology, business, and design. It publishes six print issues per year.
History
''Fast Company'' was launched in November 1995 by Alan Web ...
'', ''
The Philadelphia Inquirer
''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...
,''
ColorLines
''Colorlines'' is a digital media platform that seeks to build a political home for everyday people and activists. The platform creates accessible multimedia to power its vision of a just multiracial democracy where all thrive.
History
''Colorlin ...
, and
The Root
"The Root" is a song by American recording artist D'Angelo. It is the eighth track on his second studio album, ''Voodoo'', which was released on January 25, 2000, by Virgin Records. "The Root" was recorded and produced by D'Angelo at New York's ...
, to name a few. Her commentary is featured in ''A Changing America: 1968 and Beyond,'' a permanent installation exhibited in the
National Museum of African American History and Culture
The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) is a Smithsonian Institution museum located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was established in December 2003 and opened its permanent home in ...
. Blay is the author of the award-winning ''One Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race''.
Education
Blay was born and raised in
, US, where her Ghanaian parents had relocated. She received her B.A. in psychology (cum laude) from
Salisbury State University
Salisbury University is a public university in Salisbury, Maryland. Founded in 1925, Salisbury is a member of the University System of Maryland, with a fall 2016 enrollment of 8,748.
Salisbury University offers 42 distinct undergraduate and 14 ...
, M.Ed. in counseling psychology from the
University of New Orleans
The University of New Orleans (UNO) is a public research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is a member of the University of Louisiana System and the Urban 13 association. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High rese ...
, and M.A. and Ph.D. in African American studies from
Temple University
Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then calle ...
with a Graduate Certificate in women's studies. The former Dan Blue Endowed Chair in Political Science at North Carolina Central University, she has also taught on the faculties of Lehigh University, Lafayette College, and Drexel University, where she served as the director of the Africana Studies program.
Career
Blay is the author of ''One Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race'' and artistic director of the One Drop project. In ''One Drop'', she explores the interconnected nuances of skin color politics and racial identity, and challenges perceptions of blackness as both an identity and lived reality. In 2012, she served as a consulting producer for CNN Black in America – ''Who is Black in America?'' – a television documentary inspired by the scope of her One Drop project. In addition to her production work for CNN, Blay is producing a transmedia film project focused on the global practice of skin bleaching (with director Terence Nance).
While her broader research interests are related to African cultural aesthetics, aesthetic practices, and global Black popular culture, Blay's specific research interests lie within global black identities and the politics of embodiment, with particular attention given to hair and skin color politics. Her 2007 dissertation, "Yellow Fever: Skin Bleaching and the Politics of Skin Color in Ghana",
[Blay, Yaba Amgborale. "Skin bleaching and global white supremacy: By way of introduction." Journal of Pan African Studies 4.4 (2011).] relies upon African-centered and African feminist methodologies to investigate the social practice of
skin bleaching
Skin whitening, also known as skin lightening and skin bleaching, is the practice of using chemical substances in an attempt to lighten the skin or provide an even skin color by reducing the melanin concentration in the skin. Several chemicals ha ...
in
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
. Her ethnographic case study of skin color and identity in New Orleans, entitled "Pretty Color and Good Hair", is featured as a chapter in the anthology ''Blackberries and Redbones: Critical Articulations of Black Hair/Body Politics in Africana Communities''.
Research and selected writings
;Research
''One Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race'' 2013.
"Yellow Fever: Skin Bleaching and the Politics of Skin Color in Ghana""Pretty Color and Good Hair"
;Selected writings
*
ttp://www.cnn.com/2013/09/10/living/identity-opinion-yaba-blay-dreadlocks-brown-girl/ "Tell a Brown Girl She’s Pretty, Dreadlocks and all""Color Me Beautiful: A Dark Girl Reflects on 'Dark Girls'""Soledad O’Brien: Who is Black in America? I Am"“Who’s Black, Who’s Not, and Who Cares?”“One Drop”/nowiki>]
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">''Jenda: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies'' (no. 14) [Guest Editor
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“’Ahɔɔfe Kasa!’: Skin Bleaching and the Function of Beauty among Ghanaian Women”
* “[https://books.google.com/books?id=B667ATiedQkC&pg=PT99 Asamando]”
“Color Symbolism”
“Cromanti”
Bibliography
*''Encyclopedia of African Religions'', Dr. Molefi K. Asante - July 2011
References
External links
Dr Yaba Blay
website
"Yaba Blay, Ph.D."
The Daniel T. Blue Endowed Chair, North Carolina Central University
"Imagine Otherwise: Yaba Blay on Everyday Black Girl Magic"
December 13, 2017.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blay, Yaba
Living people
1974 births
North Carolina Central University faculty
African-American women academics
American women academics
African-American academics