So’Phelia Morrow

My research focuses on social conditions and Black women’s health, including understanding how wealth (in the form of debt) affects Black women’s mental and physical health. I am also interested in understanding how colonization, specifically colonialist ideas about Black women and their bodies, contributes to violence against Black women. My dissertation research takes an autoethnographic approach to explore the concept of racial loyalty (the idea that Black women are to withstand abuse) and the Strong Black Woman stereotype, the colonialist roots of these ideas, and how these ideas contribute to the interpersonal violence experienced by Black women. My dissertation research also explores these colonialist ideas among Black Twitter using the shooting of rapper Megan Thee Stallion as a case study. I am further interested in understanding the lived experiences of Black women survivors of hidden abuse (non-physical forms of violence).