Dr. Wheatland-Disu is a historian of Africa and the African diaspora whose research and scholarship bridge the histories of decolonization, Black radicalism, and Black political thought. She earned her Ph.D. with distinction in History from Howard University in 2025. Her dissertation, A History of the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party (A-APRP), 1968–1998: A Pivotal Moment in Black Internationalism, investigates the transnational dimensions of political thought and praxis inspired by Kwame Nkrumah’s 1958 All-African People’s Conference in Accra, Ghana. Through her examination of the radical pan-Africanism of Ghana and Guinea as sites of black internationalist ferment, her work positions the formation of the A-APRP as a critical node in 20th-century revolutionary history.
Dr. Wheatland-Disu brings a wealth of experience in both academic and grassroots spaces. Since 2013 she has served as a lecturer in the Department of Africana Studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City where she teaches courses exploring Africana thought, development and social justice. Beyond the classroom, she has worked extensively in the non-profit sector, advocating for social justice for underserved communities, particularly immigrant communities of African descent.
She joins the Department of Black Studies as the Postdoctoral Fellow in the History and Culture of the 20th and 21st Century African Diaspora. This fall, she will debut a timely new course: BLST 212 – Fueling the Green Energy Revolution: The New Scramble for Africa, which critically examines Africa’s pivotal role in the global transition to renewable energy and advancements in information technology, as well as the implications for political autonomy, economic sovereignty, and environmental justice on the continent.