He received his BA in Philosophy from Fisk University; his MA in American Studies from Purdue University and another MA along with his PhD from the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. He was the Thurgood Marshall Fellow of African and African American Studies at Dartmouth College before assuming his position at Rhodes College. His teaching/research interests include African American Literature, Male Studies, Black Popular Culture and Literary/Cultural Theory. His current book project examines salvific manhood, intimacy and emotion in the novels of James Baldwin.