Theory changed my life.
Like most nineteen year old’s, I was sure I had it figured out. Then I found political theory and a new way to see myself and the world.
The path became clear when I read Iris Marion Young’s Justice and the Politics of Difference and Charles Mills’ The Racial Contract for the first time. As a queer, first-generation Korean American, I finally had the vocabulary and tools to think about my identity. I thought to myself, “This is what I need to do.” I made a beeline to graduate school at the University of Washington, where I began to blend democratic theory and Black political thought.
My interests soon expanded to American political development, public law, and race and ethnic politics. I became especially interested in the criminal legal system and the politics of resistance. In developing and teaching courses on these topics, I could not shake the feeling, “We have not been here before but we have been here before.” This led me to my current book project, From Slavery to Prisons. Since then, I have continued to research the early development of the carceral state while maintaining an active agenda as a political theorist focusing especially on the thought of James Baldwin.
Today I live in Chicago with my partner, Jordan and our two dogs, Olive and Percy. When I’m not thinking, writing, or teaching about race, you can find me running on the lake, hosting maximalist supper clubs, working on a cookbook, and (unapologetically) singing Taylor Swift at karaoke.