About me
I've spent more than 25 years doing what I love — teaching students how to tell stories that matter. My work sits at the intersection of film and television production, scriptwriting, visual media, and Africana studies, and every course I teach is built around one core belief: representation isn't optional, it's essential.
My love for this industry started early. I hosted a teenage talk show on the Fox network while I was still in high school, and I never really looked back. I went on to build a career in casting, where I worked directly with talent like Denzel Washington and George Clooney — and that inside view of how the industry actually operates is the foundation I bring into every classroom.
My teaching career started at Kent State University, where I eventually served as Senior Lecturer and Director of the Center of Pan-African Culture. I advised student organizations, mentored emerging creatives, and founded Kent State University Independent Films — because I've always believed students learn best by actually making things. I went on to teach at the University of Texas at San Antonio before finding my home at the University of Oklahoma's Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication, where I currently serve as Assistant Professor. At OU, I teach production and scriptwriting courses, serve as Professor of Record for the Greenlight practicum, and advise the Black Creative Circle.
Over the years, I've developed curriculum centered on the representation of people of color, feature film production, scriptwriting, and the empowerment of women in digital media. I've also authored two textbooks to support and deepen that work in the classroom.
In December 2025, I completed my Ph.D. in Media Studies from the University of Oklahoma. My research produced the EMERGE framework — an Anti-Symbolic Annihilation Framework for media production education — designed to build more equitable, culturally responsive learning environments for students both in front of and behind the camera.
I'm not done. There are more students to mentor, more stories to tell, and more frameworks to build. I'm here for all of it.
