I earned my PhD in 2012, in Anthropology PhD at the University of Texas, Austin. My dissertation, "The Spirit that Protects Our Youth: Kamali Academy and Independent Black Educational Institutions in Post-Katrina New Orleans," examines the ways in which disenfranchised Black communities empower themselves through the establishment and maintenance of independent institutions. It highlights a strong, yet under acknowledged legacy of these communities’ struggles for self-determination and independence; a legacy markedly different from the mainstream narrative of integration and reliance. In particular, this study accompanies and examines the growth and development of Kamali Academy, a home-school collective in New Orleans, Louisiana.