Nghana Lewis
Past SE Professor, 2011-2013
Areas of Expertise
Biography
Nghana Lewis is an associate professor of English and of African & African Diaspora Studies; a faculty affiliate of the School of Law; and an adjunct professor with the Department of Psychology. She has published and lectured widely on her research, which cross-sectionally studies HIV/AIDS, hip hop culture, and black women’s health. Professor Lewis has been recognized for her professionalism and community involvement, receiving the Roddy Richard Lifetime Achievement Award for her commitment to serving Louisiana youth, in 2008, and the Suzanne & Stephen Weiss Presidential Fellowship for outstanding undergraduate teaching at Tulane, in 2010. In 2013, Professor Lewis was named a Top Female Achiever by New Orleans Magazine. Lewis served as a Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship Professor from 2010-2012.
Accomplishments
Top Female Achiever
2013
New Orleans Magazine
Suzanne & Stephen Weiss Presidential Fellowship
2010
for outstanding undergraduate teaching at Tulane
Roddy Richard Lifetime Achievement Award
2008
for commitment to serving Louisiana youth
Articles
After Katrina: Poverty, Politics, and Performance in New Orleans Public Schools
Roughly two months after Hurricane Katrina hammered the nation's Gulf Coast, the Louisiana legislature passed, and former Governor Kathleen Blanco signed into law, a bill establishing the Recovery School District (RSD). I The bill gave the RSD authority over the …
Media Appearances
Why More People Are Choosing Unique Children's Names
The history of unique names runs deeper within African-American communities. During the civil rights and Black Power movements, African-American activists began distancing themselves from names associated with slavery. The rise of Elijah Muhammad’s Nation of Islam played into that trend too — after joining the Nation of Islam, Cassius Marcellus Clay changed his name to Muhammad Ali, in 1964. Many Black Power activists joined him. “There were concerted efforts on the part of Black people to adopt names that intentionally gave a nod to the continent,” says Nghana Lewis, associate professor of English and African diaspora studies at Tulane University in New Orleans. As part of the Black Power movement, Lewis’ parents chose her first name to ensure her connection with Ghana. The tradition of unique names among African-Americans is still going strong decades later, though today it’s more focused on connecting the child to family rather than to Africa, Lewis says. She recently christened a baby named Carjay — a combination of his parents’ first names.
Trump Calls Racist Hate Groups 'Evil'
Nghana Lewis teaches at Tulane University in New Orleans and has followed the battle over the city’s Confederate monuments.
She was asked what people outside the United States should know about these fights.
Lewis said while “there is much to admire about our country,” U.S. history is complex. She said America is still a “very young nation and still early in the process of undoing its history of slavery and racial discrimination."
How a young Ernest Hemingway dealt with his first taste of fame
Late in life, however, Hemingway’s views on Africa would shift, and his second safari, in 1953-4, brought what scholar of American literature and African diaspora studies Nghana tamu Lewis describes as “a crisis of consciousness” that “engendered a new commitment to understanding African peoples’ struggles against oppression as part, rather than in isolation, of changing ecological conditions.”
Flooded Louisiana vehicles: Stories of devastated families, jammed tow truck, insurance, salvage companies
Tulane University professor Nghana Lewis said a car is often a poor person’s lifeline to society. “It’s not just in terms of getting back and forth to your job,” she said. “It’s really to navigate all aspects of life.”
