Prof. Ula Y. Taylor is a professor in the Department of African American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Her academic work focuses on African American history from 1890 to 1980, African American women’s history, black feminist theory, black nationalism, Pan-Africanism, and the civil rights and Black Power movements. She is widely recognised for her research based on original archival sources and for her contributions to the understanding of African American women's intellectual traditions and political engagement.
Prof. Ula earned her doctorate in American History from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research has explored the intersection of gender, nationalism, and race, with a particular focus on African American women’s roles in political and religious movements. Her work highlights the ways in which African American women have shaped, and been shaped by, the larger historical and ideological currents of the twentieth century.
She is the author of The Promise of Patriarchy: Women and the Nation of Islam (2017), a study of African American Muslim women and gender dynamics within the Nation of Islam between 1930 and 1975. This work analyses how women navigated their roles within a male-led religious organisation and provides insight into their contributions to the Nation’s growth. The book was the subject of a 2019 forum in the Journal of Civil and Human Rights and received the Liberty Legacy Foundation Award in 2018.
Prof. Ula's earlier book, The Veiled Garvey: The Life and Times of Amy Jacques Garvey (2002), is a biography of the Pan-Africanist thinker and second wife of Marcus Garvey. It details Amy Jacques Garvey’s political activism, editorial leadership, and influence on Pan-African and Black nationalist thought. In 1995, Taylor co-authored Panther: A Pictorial History of the Black Panthers and the Story Behind the Film, alongside J. Tarika Lewis and Mario Van Peebles, providing a visual and historical account of the Black Panther Party. She also co-edited Black California Dreamin’: The Crisis of California African American Communities, which examines contemporary issues facing Black communities in California.
Prof. Ula has contributed extensively to scholarly journals such as the Journal of African American History, Journal of Women’s History, Feminist Studies, SOULS, Afro-Americans in New York Life and History, and The Western Journal of Black Studies. Her notable articles include “Making Waves: The Theory and Practice of Black Feminism,” “The Historical Evolution of Black Feminist Theory and Praxis,” “Amy Jacques Garvey: Community Feminist,” “Street Scholars: Grounding the Theory of Black Women Intellectuals,” and “Origins of African American Studies at UC-Berkeley.”
These writings address a range of themes including black feminist thought, women in the black radical tradition, and the development of African American studies as an academic discipline.
In addition to her journal articles, Prof. Ula has written several chapters for edited academic volumes. These include “Too Black and Too Strong: First Lady Michelle Obama” in The Obama Phenomenon (2011), “Black Feminisms and Human Agency” in No Permanent Waves (2010), “Archival Thinking and the Wives of Marcus Garvey” in Contesting Archives (2010), and “The Death of Dry Tears” in Telling Histories (2008).
She also contributed chapters to Black Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia (2005), Freedom North (2003), and Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought (1995).
Prof. Ula has written biographical entries on Amy Jacques Garvey for several reference works including the Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History (1996), African American Women: A Biographical Dictionary (1994), and Black Women in United States History and Encyclopedia (1993). She has also written book reviews for The Black Scholar and Journal of American History.
Her academic contributions have been recognised through numerous honours and fellowships. She has received the Ford Foundation Minority Dissertation Fellowship, the University of California Presidential Dissertation Fellowship, an Interdisciplinary Humanities Grant, and the Graduate Opportunity Fellowship. In 2013, she was awarded the Distinguished Professor Teaching Award at the University of California, Berkeley—an award given to only 5% of the academic senate faculty. She is the second African American woman in the university’s history to receive this recognition.
Prof. Ula continues to be a leading scholar in African American studies, with a particular focus on gender, ideology, and historical memory. Her research and teaching have played a significant role in shaping the academic discourse around African American women's lives and intellectual legacies, while also informing wider public understanding of Black feminist thought and political history.
