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Mark Naison is Professor of History and African American Studies at Fordham University. He is the author of four books and over 100 articles on African American politics, social movements and American culture and sports Dr. Naison is the Principal Investigator of the Bronx African American History Project, one of the largest community based oral history projects in the nation and has begun work on an book of oral histories from the BAAHP, with Robert Gumbs, entitled Before the Fires: An Oral History of African American Life in the Bronx from the 1030's to the 1960's. His articles about Bronx music and Bronx culture have been published in German, Spanish, Catalan, and Portuguese as well as English.
When not doing historical research, Naison likes to play tennis and golf, post commentary on his blog "With a Brooklyn Accent” and make periodic forays into the media. He has appeared on the O'Reilly Factor, the Discovery Channel's Greatest American Competition (as Dr King's advocate), and on the Dave Chappell Show, where his "performance" has been preserved on that show's Second Year DVD. During the last five years, he has begun presenting historical "raps" in Bronx schools under the nickname of "Notorious Phd" and was the subject of stories about his use of hip hop in teaching in the Daily News, and on Bronx 12 Cablevision, and Fox Business. Most recently he has done commentary on Occupy Wall Street for ABC News, and BBC America. He also comments regularly on education issues through his blog and on LA Progressive, History News Network and. The Washington Post "Answer Sheet”. PURE BRONX is his first novel.
Melissa Castillo-Garsow is a Mexican-American writer, journalist, and scholar currently pursuing a PhD in American Studies and African American Studies at Yale University. Her short stories and poetry have been published in various journals including The Acentos Review, La Bloga, Hispanic Culture Review, Hinchas de Poesia and The 2River View.
Melissa completed her Master's degree in English with a concentration in Creative Writing at Fordham University in 2011 where she was a graduate assistant for the American Studies Program. Prior to that she was awarded a Bachelor of Arts from New York University summa cum laude with a double major in Journalism and Latin American Studies. A former employee of NBC News, El Diario/ La Prensa and Launch Radio Networks, Melissa has had articles and reviews published in a wide variety of forums including CNN.com, Latin Beat Magazine, Washington Square News, University Wire, El Diario/La Prensa, Women's Studies, Words. Beats. Life: The Global Journal of Hip-Hop Culture, and The Bilingual Review.
Melissa is an active scholar in the fields of English literature, American Studies, African American Studies and Latin American/Latino Studies. At Yale, she focuses on the study of Afro-Latino history and culture in the 20th Century, presenting at numerous conferences including the American Studies Association Conference, the American Culture Association/ Popular Culture Association National Conference, the National Association for Ethnic Studies National Conference, and the Latin American Studies Conference.
After living and learning in various places including Ithaca, NY; Colima, Mexico; Belo Horizonte, Brazil; East Harlem, NY; Astoria, Queens; Tempe, Arizona; and New Haven, CT, she currently calls Brooklyn, NY home.
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