Dr. Yaba Blay is a
cultural worker.
A scholar-activist, cultural worker, and storyteller, her practice centers Black experiences globally, especially those of Black women and girls. A maroon academic, her research and scholarship engages the Black body, with particular focus on beauty politics.
meet yaba
Widely known and respected as a thought leader on colorism and skin bleaching, Dr. Blay has been named one of today’s leading Black voices by ‘The Root 100’ and Essence Magazine’s ‘Woke 100.’
She has appeared on CNN, ABC, BET, MSNBC, BBC, and NPR, and her work has been featured in The New York Times, EBONY, Fast Company, Black Enterprise, Colorlines, and The Philadelphia Inquirer, just to name a few. Lauded by O Magazine for her social media activism, she has launched several viral campaigns including ‘Locs of Love,’ #PrettyPeriod, and ‘Professional Black Girl.’
Dr. Blay is a globally sought-after speaker and consultant with an extensive client list of over two dozen academic institutions including Harvard University, Duke University, Spelman College, New York University, to name a few; and such corporate entities as Netflix, UniLever International, SheaMoisture, Estee Lauder Companies, Procter & Gamble’s ‘My Black is Beautiful,’ and me too. International.
A blooming visual artist, her film, The Whites of Our Eyes won the 2024 BlackStar Film Festival Shine Award, given annually to a first-time filmmaker. In 2016, she created and directed the webseries, ‘Professional Black Girl,’ and returned with a second season set in New Orleans in 2019. And in 2012, she served as a producer on “Who is Black in America?,” CNN's television documentary based largely on her research on Black racial identity.
Dr. Blay’s commentary is featured in A Changing America: 1968 and Beyond, a permanent installation exhibited in the National Museum of African American History and Culture; and she is the author of the bestselling, award-winning book, One Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race.
She earned a Master of Arts and PhD in African American Studies (with distinction) and a Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies from Temple University. She also holds a Master of Education in Counseling Psychology from the University of New Orleans. The former Dan Blue Endowed Chair in Political Science at North Carolina Central University, she has also taught on the faculties of Lehigh University, Lafayette College, and Drexel University, where she served as the Director of the Africana Studies program.
Featured
O Magazine
The Hashtag that Celebrates Beautiful Black Women
Sick of old-school beauty standards, professor Yaba Blay (@yabablay) is telling the Web to open its eyes.
contact
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with yaba.
If you're interested in booking me for an interview, speaking engagement, or consulting, feel free to reach out.