Critical Race Studies Project Director at the University of California Los Angeles, School of Law
About
Taifha Alexander, JD, is from a low-income, racially diverse household in Jamaica, New York. Taifha's lived experiences and the injustices she witnessed between people in her neighborhood and the police contributed to her decision to enroll in the legal studies program at St. John's University in New York. While at St. John's University, Taifha combined her passion for diversity and the law. Taifha followed her passion to law school at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, DC where she utilized her legal skills to advocate for marginalized students. Her most recent research paper, "We Can't Breathe: How Top Law Schools Can Resuscitate an Inclusive Climate for Minority & Low-Income Students," provides tangible recommendations to assist top law schools in creating inclusive climate for their most vulnerable student populations. After Georgetown Law, Taifha served in Diversity & Inclusion roles at University of South Carolina Aiken and UCLA before her current role at Wofford.
Current Work:
Taifha's research interests include issues that simultaneously exposes institutional racism and suggests tangible solutions to dismantle institutional racism in an effort to ensure equity and justice. Taifha's most recent project, "Chopped & Screwed," was published in the Harvard Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law. 'Chopped and Screwed' focuses on how the law has unjustifiably used hip hop, and not other forms of artistic expression, to contribute to the mass incarceration of Black men. Her next project is a book chapter that will be included in a forthcoming textbook. The chapter will provide insight on how colleges and universities can create successfully incorporate antiracist pedagogy into their multidisciplinary curricula.
Research Area Keyword(s):
Education; Law; Equity; Critical Race Theory
