Yaba Blay

Activist, Artist, Change Agent, Consultant, Idea generator, Producer, Writer/Editor

Dr. Yaba Blay is the Dan Blue Endowed Chair in Political Science at North Carolina Central University. A professor and ethnographer, her scholarship centers on Black racial identity, Black aesthetic practices, and Black beauty, with particular attention given to hair and skin color politics. Named to The Root 100, an annual list of top Black influencers, Dr. Blay is one of today’s leading voices on colorism and global skin color politics. Her commentary has been featured on CNN, BET, MSNBC, NPR, The New York Times, Ebony Magazine, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Root, Huffington Post Live, Colorlines, and elsewhere. Applauded by O, The Oprah Magazinefor her social media activism, Dr. Blay is the creator and producer of a number of online campaigns including #PrettyPeriod - a visual celebration of dark-skinned Black beauty - and #ProfessionalBlackGirl - a webseries and online community celebrating everyday, around-the-way Black Girl Magic. Dr. Blay is the author of (1)ne Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race.

Black people

Black Girl Magic, Black racial identity, Colorism, Digital Storytelling, Global Black Culture, Hair Politics, Skin Color Politics, Social Media, The politics of embodiment