Professor, Department of Social Science

SHOUTING OUT Kamala Kempadoo
Professor, Department of Social Science

To the world, Professor Kamala Kempadoo is a renowned feminist and social scientist who has been recognized for her global work on sex trafficking. To me, she is a mentor. Professor Kempadoo is bold and committed to locating theories and ideas reflective of the very women she studies — and will not waiver on that. She has taken a stand on the exclusion of Black women writing in the diaspora who are often ignored, and academic work is left uncited. Professor Kempadoo has also bravely called out racial patriarchy in the academe and created safe spaces for many Black scholars which has also offered us a place to shine. In spite of how hard it is to be a Black feminist scholar in the social sciences, Professor Kempadoo continues to expand her body of research which attracts so many eager minds to York University each year. Professor Kempadoo is such an inspiration to me. I am following in the path which she helped to create in terms of what it means to conduct high quality, ethical research and to be mindful of citing Black political economy scholars in the work that I produce.