Dr. Mesi Bakari Walton’s research intersects with Africana, Latin American, and Cultural Studies. Her work explores how Afro-diasporic cultures are employed as symbols of identity and tools of survival through cultural texts of music, song, dance, language, and other practices. Dr. Bakari Walton recently completed research as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar in Colombia titled, “Ancestral Identity – Afro-Colombian Cultural Traditions of the Atlantic Coast”. She has a book chapter titled, “Dance, Rhythm, and Ritual: Afro-Venezuelans in Resistance” and a peer-reviewed article titled, “Afro-Venezuelan Cultural Survival: Invoking Ancestral Memory”. Dr. Bakari Walton is an Assistant Professor of Spanish and Afro-Latinx Cultures at Howard University.