His teaching and research focuses on African American literature and culture, with particular interests in poetry, prison studies and representations of blackness in Hollywood cinema and popular music. His writing on these subjects has appeared in journals such as African American Review and Callaloo. He is also adjunct faculty in the Bard Prison Initiative and teaches in the New York State prison system. His book manuscript on poet Robert Hayden, tentatively titled X Black Poetics, is nearing completion.