For the Love of Black Appalachia: A Conversation with EnKeshi Thom El-Amin, Ph.D.
Description
Since she arrived in Knoxville, Black scholar and University of Tennessee, Knoxville, sociologist EnKeshi Thom El-Amin has been building bridges between academia and local communities. Her Ph.D. dissertation, "A Love Letter to Black Appalachia" chronicles the lives of Black Appalachians and the place they call home.
The first Ph.D. graduate of the Department of Sociology’s critical race and ethnic studies concentration, El-Amin now serves as a lecturer for the department. Her doctoral studies at UT led her to identify the need for Black community space in Knoxville. Earlier this year, she founded The Bottom, home to a podcast studio, a bookstore that features Black authors, and Sew It Sell It, a community sewing camp that teaches crafts and entrepreneurship skills to children.
El-Amin is also co-host of the Black in Appalachia podcast.
Dr. El-Amin, born in Guyana, South America, is a graduate of Agnes Scott College and Syracuse University, where she received her undergraduate and post-graduate degrees respectively.
She is married to Jihad El-Amin, and they are the proud parents of Princess-Auset, age 3.
United States
