Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor (African American Studies) has been awarded a 2021 MacArthur Fellowship.
Taylor is among 25 scientists, artists and scholars across the country who each will receive $625,000 in unrestricted grants over a five-year period from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Fellowships are awarded annually to talented individuals in a variety of fields who have shown extraordinary originality in and dedication to their creative pursuits.
“Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor’s bold and original scholarship has established her as one of America’s most influential commentators on questions of race and social justice,” said University President Christopher L. Eisgruber. “All of us at Princeton applaud her well-deserved selection as a MacArthur Fellow.”
“This award rightly recognizes Professor Taylor’s pathbreaking scholarship that has shaped our understanding of the Black Lives Matter movement and redefined how we think about the history of housing policy in this country,” said Eddie Glaude Jr. (African American Studies), department chair. “What wonderful news!”
MacArthur Fellowships are among the most prestigious private grants in the nation. Taylor received the fellowship from the Chicago-based foundation for her work analyzing the political and economic forces underlying racial inequality and the role of social movements in transforming society.
Taylor said the honor is an affirmation of her approach toward her scholarship—which includes both academic and public audiences—and the value of its content. She also called it an important milestone for Princeton’s Department of African American Studies.
“I hope it gives more attention to African American studies as a serious discipline—as a way of looking at the world and writing about the world,” she said.
Taylor is a scholar of racial inequality in public policy making and the various ways that Black communities have challenged or resisted these constraints. She writes extensively on race and politics, Black social movements and organizing, and radical activism and politics.
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