Roderick E. Jackson, M.A.
I am a second-generation Black Chicagolander and PhD Candidate in the Department of African American Studies 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 Is..., I employ visual ethnography through a multimodal approach to thicken our understanding of Black life across the Chicago Metropolitan Area (Chicagoland). I have worked as an event photographer for SF Moma, Mount Holyoke College, and UC Berkeley.
Dr. april l. graham-jackson
I am a third-generation Black Chicagolander and the geosonicologist and geographer behind Black Chicagoland Is... I document how Black Chicagolanders use music, sound, geography, and acoustic ecologies to take up space and make place across Chicagoland while (re)shaping the city, the suburbs, villages, towns, and unincorporated areas that have been their home since the mid to late 1800s.
I hold a PhD in Geography from the University of California, Berkeley, where I was also the first Berkeley Black Geographies Fellow. I graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Mount Holyoke College, becoming the first person with a bachelor’s degree in Black Geographies. I am also a proud community college graduate. I have an Associate's in General Studies with Honors from Harold Washington College — City Colleges of Chicago.