Kalfani Nyerere Ture: Policy of Urban Gentrification and State Sponsored
Family Intervention

My name is Kalfani Nyerere Ture?, and I am a graduate student in the “Race, Gender and Social Justice” concentration in the Anthropology PhD program at American University, Washington, DC. I received my BA in African/African American Studies and Criminal Justice at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. At Rutgers, I received the greatest mentorship from the current anthropologist, Dr. Zain Abdullah. Under Dr. Abdullah’s anthropological tutelage, I immediately realized the discipline of Anthropology was best suited for the understanding and pursuit of social solutions toward the often intersecting factors of racism, classism, sexism and poverty. I later received my MA in Applied Anthropology at Georgia State University.

My scholarly interests vary, but all returns to issues of representation, identity, and social power to include: gentrification and urban renewal; the public/private development of public housing; postmodern constructions of racial identity and the black middle class constructions of lower-class black “otherness”; state and local policy implications on community development and local resistance; gendered poverty and the gendered politics of public space in poor communities; and the effects of adolescent drug dealing in communities seized for urban renewal. In sum, my scholarly interests concern the politics of representation, identity, community and social power.

My other professional interest includes teaching Anthropology, tracing the practice and contributions to Anthropology by marginal participants, such as Feminist, African American, Latino/a, and Queer Scholars. Moreover, I enjoy reading about the implications of Public Anthropology and state policy, academic transformations and community development. I am privilege to pursue these interests through the instruction and guidance of the AU Anthropology faculty.