Kyle T. Mays
· Professor of African American Studies, American Indian Studies, & History and Assoc. Vice Provost of Inclusive ExcellenceUniversity of California, Los Angeles · African American Studies
Active 2010–2025
About
Kyle T. Mays is a professor associated with the UCLA Department of African American Studies. His research interests encompass Black Studies, the Black Experience in Professional Sports, Black Feminist Thought, Black Politics, Queer Theory, Pop Culture Studies, the Afterlives of Slavery, Black Joy, and Mutual Aid. His work explores various facets of Black culture, history, and social dynamics, contributing to a deeper understanding of these interconnected areas within the field of African American Studies.
Research topics
- Political Science
- Sociology
- Ecology
- Gender studies
- Law
- Archaeology
- Geography
- Epistemology
- Environmental ethics
- History
- Anthropology
Selected publications
Dispossession and Its Aftermath
2025-07-04
book-chapterOpen access1st authorCorrespondingTo imagine a future for Black and Indigenous solidarity, one must consider the past, present, and future of this relationship, and envision the “sites of Black and Indigenous fugitivity.” This chapter explores how kinship serves as an example of Afro-Indigenous possibility. The move to dismantle Black and Indigenous dispossession requires an understanding of how racial capitalism and settler colonialism have constructed Black and Indigenous people’s experiences as inherently different, thus limiting the imaginary possibilities of their co-revolutionary freedom. Beginning with Indigenous activism in Detroit, Michigan, in the 1970s and 1980s, this chapter explores how Esther Shawboose Mays constructed ideas of belonging and kinship for urban Indigenous youth in a rapidly changing, predominantly African American city. The chapter concludes by exploring how kinship can be used as a speculative tool to visualize a future in the aftermath of settler colonialism and white supremacy.
2025-01-01
book1st authorCorresponding:<i>Race, Removal, and the Right to Remain: Migration and the Making of the United States</i>
The Journal of African American History · 2024-03-01
article1st authorCorrespondingRethinking the “Classic” Red Power Movement
2024-04-29
book-chapterSenior author2024-04-29
book-chapterSenior authorRethinking the Red Power Movement
2024-04-29 · 3 citations
bookSenior authorRethinking the Red Power Movement examines Red Power ideology with a focus on its many forms of solidarity with African Americans, the role of gender in shaping the movement, its international expansion, and its current meaning in contemporary activism. The Red Power Movement is often considered the apex of Indigenous activism in the twentieth century. While diverse, the movement is typically told through four actions. Beginning with the occupation of Alcatraz in 1969, followed by the Trail of Broken Treaties in 1972, Wounded Knee in 1973, then culminating with the Longest Walk in 1978, there is a clear jumpstart, middle, and end to the Red Power Movement. Through a chronological approach, this study makes the case that Red Power never died—and neither did Indigenous activism. Instead, it shows how Indigenous peoples found many ways to push forward Indigenous sovereignty and continue to call on the United States to value Indigenous possibilities for justice, freedom, and power. This book is useful for students and scholars interested in twentieth century America, social movements, and the history of Indigenous activism.
2024-04-29
book-chapterSenior authorRethinking the Contexts of Red Power
2024-04-29
book-chapterSenior author2024-04-29
book-chapterSenior author2024-04-29
book-chapterSenior author
Frequent coauthors
- 5 shared
Sam Hitchmough
- 2 shared
Sam Hitchmough
- 1 shared
Adom Getachew
University of Helsinki
- 1 shared
Laura Barraclough
American University
- 1 shared
Keisha‐Khan Y. Perry
- 1 shared
Aaron A. Harthan
OSF HealthCare
- 1 shared
Margaret Heger
OSF HealthCare
- 1 shared
Vinay Lal
University of California, Los Angeles
Education
- 2015
Ph.D., African American Studies
University of California, Los Angeles
- 2011
M.A., African American Studies
University of California, Los Angeles
- 2009
B.A., African American Studies
University of California, Los Angeles
Awards & honors
- Finalist, "Best First Book Prize" for the Native American an…
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