Ronald Williams II

Ronald Williams II is an Assistant Professor in the Department of African, African American, and Diaspora Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research focuses on African American influence on U.S. foreign relations, particularly toward Africa and the African Diaspora during the post-Civil Rights era. He earned his Ph.D. and M.A. in African American Studies from UC Berkeley, and holds an M.A. in Political Science from Howard University and a B.A. in Political Science from San Diego State University.

His current project, Black Embassy: TransAfrica and the Rise and Fall of the African American Foreign Policy Lobby, examines the TransAfrica advocacy organization's history through archival research and oral histories. This work represents the first comprehensive study of the longest-lasting African American foreign policy lobby.

Key publications include analyses of Barack Obama’s racial representation, African American anti-colonial movements, and the intersection of race and U.S. foreign policy. His work bridges political history, racial theory, and transnational activism.