Roderick "Midas Wells" Jackson
I am a second generation Black Chicagolander and PhD Candidate in the African American Studies Department at the University of California, Berkeley. I graduated cum laude from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst with a bachelor's degree in Anthropology. I also have an Associate Degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences with High Honors from Holyoke Community College.
As the principal photographer and curator for Black Chicagoland, I utilize visual ethnography through a multi-modal approach to thicken our understanding of Black life across the Chicago Metropolitan Area. I have worked as an event photographer for SF Moma, Mount Holyoke College, and UC Berkeley.
I am also a musician, producer, and composer who is part of the Grammy certified production duo Tensei with Chris Kramer. Our music has been featured on the television shows the South Side on HBO Max and The Blacklist on NBC. Click here to check out our music. I also produced the Chicago hip hop classic, "Dennehy" by Serengeti and work as a producer, writer, and composer with Sony | KPM.
dr. april l. graham-jackson
i am a third-generation Black chicagolander and the geosonicologist and geographer behind Black chicagoland. i document how Black chicagolanders use music, sound, geography, and acoustic ecologies to take up space and place across the chicago metropolitan area while shaping the city, the suburbs, and unincorporated areas that make up their city-region.
I am a postdoctoral fellow in the department of sociology at the university of chicago where i am also a postdoctoral research affiliate with chicago studies, the committee on environment, geography, and urbanization (cegu), and the urban theory lab (utl). i am also a fellow with the american council of learned societies (acls) and a scholar-in-residence at the newberry library.
i hold a phd in geography from the university of california, berkeley and graduated summa cum laude and phi beta kappa from mount holyoke college as the first person with a bachelor’s degree in Black geographies. i am also a proud community college graduate. i have an associate degree in general studies with honors from harold washington college — city colleges of chicago.