Historical Consultant, Rediscover Mapledale, Stow, MA (2022-present)

Providing consultation for the development of Mapledale Acres in Stow, MA, the first Black owned 9-hole golf course in the United States.

Historian/Researcher for Lexington Historical Society Black History Project, (2021-2022)

I researched the history of black people in slavery and freedom in Lexington, Massachusetts from the 1690s to the 1820s. The information is being used in the interpretation of the town’s historical sites, developing a black history tour in the town, and to add to the understanding of the town’s history.

Historian, Consultant. Middleton Place, Charleston, South Carolina (2021-present)

As a historian and a descendant, I work with the staff at Middleton Place to examine ways to update and expand the interpretation of the specific sites on the grounds. I also serve on the Middleton Place DEI advisory council.

Co-director, lead historian, ASÉ (African Seed Exchange)(2021-present)

In cooperation with the Middleton Place Foundation ASÉ (African Seed Exchange) brings together descendants of the enslaved community, scholars, local community members, and agriculturalists with the goal of learning, through historical research and “experimental archaeology” (planting, growing, and harvesting a number of these plants), about the history of plants that were grown in African and African American gardens in the South Carolina Low Country.

Visiting Scholar, Middleton Place, Charleston, SC (July 2019)

Responsible for researching history related to the site, examining the interpretation of the site, and supervising an intern in public history.

Director, Géwël Tradition Project (2005-present)

This project is engaged in researching, documenting, and supporting the géwël, or griot tradition of Dakar, Senegal in its historic and contemporary manifestations. As this is a living tradition that involves the unbroken link between the generations of a family and how it operates in the transmission of cultural traditions in a way that both preserves the past and empowers the present, the work involves an investigation of history (oral, family, local, and national), culture (music and dance), and folklore. An important component of the project is the Géwël Tradition Project Archives. Composed of interviews, field recordings, documentary films, texts, and photographs it is a major resource for the géwël tradition and for West African history.