Akae Wright

Akae Wright is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and affiliated with American Studies at The George Washington University. They are a Jamaican first-generation Black feminist healer-scholar whose work bridges academia, activism, and communal care.

Their research is deeply rooted in Black feminist thought, queer and trans studies, carceral studies, and healing justice. Dr. Wright investigates how Black communities, particularly queer and trans individuals, resist and thrive amid systemic oppression and carceral violence. Their scholarship emphasizes embodied practices, spiritual resilience, and digital spaces as sites of abolitionist praxis and communal flourishing.

Dr. Wright's publications reflect a powerful interdisciplinary engagement across communication, gender studies, digital humanities, and American studies. Their recent work analyzes podcasts like How to Survive the End of the World, carceral narratives, and ancestral Caribbean resistance, highlighting trends in digital healing ecologies, embodied abolition, and feminist genealogies of care.

Notable scientific awards include:

• Black Feminist Studies Postdoctoral Fellowship, Northeastern University (2022–2024)
• Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship (2021–2022)
• Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies' Award for Pedagogy and Teaching Excellence in Feminist Studies (2021)
• Leadership in Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity (LEID) Fellowship (2020–2021)

Dr. Wright advises on abolitionist pedagogy and community-based research. Their teaching includes courses such as Queer Politics, Black Women in the Twenty-First Century, and Feminist Abolition Studies. While no formal lab is mentioned, their work is situated within collaborative networks focused on healing justice, digital activism, and Black feminist praxis.