Dr. Yohuru Williams

Distinguished University Chair and Professor of History; Founding Director of the Racial Justice Initiative, University of St. Thomas

Dr. Yohuru Williams is a Distinguished University Chair and Professor of History and Founding Director of the Racial Justice Initiative at the University of St. Thomas. Receiving his Ph.D. from Howard University in 1998, Dr. Williams has become the author and editor of several books including Rethinking the Black Freedom Movement and Black Politics/White Power: Civil Rights, Black Power, and the Black Panthers in New Haven. He has been featured locally and nationally as a scholar on many radio and television programs, most notably, CNN, History, Fox News, and NPR. Dr. Williams’ research is expansive, exploring the roots of the systemic racism that we see today and the movements that counteracted them, uncovering the history of police brutality in the context of the Twin Cities, and digging to understand the ways in which we can use the past to recover the present and future.

Black man smiling wearing an orange and turquoise tie, a white shirt, and a blue blazer standing in front of trees and grass