Yaba Blay


Dr. Yaba Blay is an American professor, producer, and publisher.

Education

Blay was born and raised in New Orleans, US, where her Ghanaian parents had relocated. She received her B.A. in Psychology from Salisbury State University, M.Ed. in Counseling Psychology from the University of New Orleans, and M.A. and Ph.D. in African American Studies from Temple University with a Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies. She is currently co-Director and Assistant Teaching Professor of Africana Studies at Drexel University. Blay is also the publisher and editor-in-chief of BLACKprint Press.

Career

Blay is the author of ne Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race and artistic director of the ne Drop project. In ne Drop, she explores the interconnected nuances of skin color politics and racial identity, and challenges perceptions of blackness as both an identity and lived reality. In 2012, she served as a consulting producer for CNN Black in America – Who is Black in America? – a television documentary inspired by the scope of her ne Drop project. In addition to her production work for CNN, Blay is producing a transmedia film project focused on the global practice of skin bleaching.
While her broader research interests are related to African cultural aesthetics, aesthetic practices, and global Black popular culture, Blay’s specific research interests lie within global black identities and the politics of embodiment, with particular attention given to hair and skin color politics. Her 2007 dissertation, "Yellow Fever: Skin Bleaching and the Politics of Skin Color in Ghana", relies upon African-centered and African feminist methodologies to investigate the social practice of skin bleaching in Ghana. Her ethnographic case study of skin color and identity in New Orleans, entitled "Pretty Color and Good Hair", is featured as a chapter in the anthology Blackberries and Redbones: Critical Articulations of Black Hair/Body Politics in Africana Communities.

Research and selected writings

;Research
;Selected writings