Yohuru R. Williams is an American academic, author and activist. Williams is a Distinguished University Chair and Professor of History and Founding Director of the Racial Justice Initiative at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was previously the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of St. Thomas.[1] Before that, Williams was a professor of history and the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Fairfield University and former chief historian of the Jackie Robinson Foundation. Williams is a notable scholar of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements. In 2009, Diverse magazine named Williams one of its Top 10 Emerging Scholars Under 40.[2]
Williams is a member of the faculty of University of St. Thomas where he is a nationally recognized expert on social studies pedagogy and history curriculum. He began his career as a professor of History at Delaware State University where he also served as Director of Black Studies and Social Studies Education. He joined the faculty at Fairfield University in 2005. Williams became a full professor in 2012 and then served as the chair of the history department and the director of black studies. In 2014, Williams became the associate VP for academic affairs and was awarded the Fairfield University Martin Luther King Jr. Vision Award. In 2015, he became the interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.[5]
During a brief leave from Fairfield University, from 2011-2012, Williams served as Vice President for Public Outreach and Community Education at the Jackie Robinson Foundation in New York City. Williams continued on as the chief historian for the Jackie Robinson Foundation from 2012 to 2014.[6]
William research interests include African American history, civil rights, Black Power movements, African-American constitutional and legal history, urban history and 20th-century American history.[11] He is author or co-author of several books on the civil rights and black power movements. His scholarly articles have appeared in the American Bar Association's Insights on Law and Society, The Organization of American Historians Magazine of History, The Black Scholar, The Journal of Black Studies, Pennsylvania History, Delaware History, and the Black History Bulletin.[13]
Books
Williams, Yohuru (2016). The Black Panthers: Portraits from an Unfinished Revolution. Nation Books. ISBN978-1-56858-555-0.
Williams, Yohuru (2015). Rethinking the Black Freedom Movement. Taylor & Francis. ISBN978-0-415-82614-3.
Williams, Yohuru (2009). Liberated Territory: Untold Local Perspectives on the Black Panther Party. Duke University Press Books. ISBN978-0-8223-4326-4.
Williams, Yohuru (2008). Teaching U.S. History Beyond the Textbook. Corwin. ISBN978-1-4129-6621-4.
Williams, Yohuru (2006). Black Politics/White Power: Civil Rights Black Power and Black Panthers in New Haven. Blackwell. ISBN978-1-881089-60-5.
