Listed as one of the BBC’s Broadcasting Stars of the Future, and an Observer Rising Star (2019), Emma Dabiri is a television presenter, social historian, and writer.
Emma’s newest book, What White People Can Do Next: From Allyship to Coalition is a Sunday Times and Irish Timesbestseller. It is an incisive and deeply practical essay on how do we transform demonstrations of support into real and meaningful change?
Twisted: The Tangled History of Black Hair Culture traces the historical, cultural, and economic significance of Afro hair across continents and centuries. Dabiri’s deep research and personal narrative converge here in a much needed guide for today’s most urgent questions exploring identity politics, capitalism, and more.
Emma Dabiri’s broadcasting and academic work spans African Studies, art, sociology, history, film, literature, theatre, popular culture, and music. One of the BBC’s Expert Voices, she currently co-presents Britain’s Lost Masterpieces on BBC 4, and Virtually History on YouTube Originals, a ground-breaking new series which uses virtual reality technology to relive dramatic events in history.
Dabiri teaches in the Africa department at SOAS University of London. She is finishing her PhD in Visual Sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London, and holds a MSc in Violence Conflict and Development from SOAS University of London. She is a member of the Wellcome Trust Anti Racism Expert Group, and a trustee for the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin. Her writing has been published in a number of journals and media outlets.