Rinaldo Wayne Walcott (born 1965) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

academic and writer.

Work

Walcott published ''Black Like Who?'' in 1997, coming out of research related to his PhD studies which focused on, in Walcott's own words, "questions of popular culture and exploring how rap music in the early 1990s was emerging as an important social and political force across North America".Althea Blackburn-Evans
"The Cultural Explorer: Rinaldo Walcott seeks new definitions of Canadian culture"
''Edge'', Fall 2003, Vol. 4, No. 2. The collection of essays in ''Black Like Who?'' expand this inquiry into areas such as

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

, diasporic studies,

film criticism Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: Academic criticism by film studies, film scholars, who study the composition of film theory and publish ...

and other discussions central to issues surrounding Black space, place, and landscape in Canada. Walcott is Professor and Chair of Africana and American Studies at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo. He holds the Carl V. Granger Chair in Africana and American Studies. Previously, he was an associate professor at the

Ontario Institute for Studies in Education The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE/UT) is Canada's only all-graduate institute of teaching, learning and research. It is located at 252 Bloor Street West on the university's St. George campus in ...

and the director of the Women and Gender Studies Institute at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. He was also affiliated with the Cinema Studies Institute at the University of Toronto. Walcott was formerly an assistant professor at

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

. From 2002 to 2007, he was the

Canada Research Chair Canada Research Chair (CRC) is a title given to certain Canadian university research professors by the Canada Research Chairs Program. Program goals The Canada Research Chair program was established in 2000 as a part of the Government of Canada ...

of Social Justice and Cultural Studies. Walcott's work focuses on

Black studies Black studies or Africana studies (with nationally specific terms, such as African American studies and Black Canadian studies), is an interdisciplinary academic field that primarily focuses on the study of the history, culture, and politics of ...

, Canadian studies,

cultural studies Cultural studies is an academic field that explores the dynamics of contemporary culture (including the politics of popular culture) and its social and historical foundations. Cultural studies researchers investigate how cultural practices rel ...

queer theory Queer theory is a field of post-structuralist critical theory that emerged in the early 1990s out of queer studies (formerly often known as gay and lesbian studies) and women's studies. The term "queer theory" is broadly associated with the study a ...

gender studies Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. The field n ...

, and

diaspora studies Diaspora studies is an academic field established in the late 20th century to study dispersed ethnic populations, which are often termed diaspora peoples. The usage of the term diaspora carries the connotation of forced resettlement, due to expu ...

Life

He wrote in 2021 "I was born in the Caribbean

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

and have lived most of my life in Canada, specifically Toronto." He is out as

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

."Pride has divorced blackness from queerness: Cole"
''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'', July 7, 2016.

Selected publications

* 1997, ''Black Like Who?: Writing Black Canada'' (Toronto: Insomniac Press). * 2000, ''Rude: Contemporary Black Canadian Cultural Criticism'' ditor(Toronto: Insomniac Press). * 2003, ''Black Like Who?: Writing Black Canada'' (Toronto: Insomniac Press). econd Revised Edition* 2016, ''Queer Returns: Essays On Multiculturalism, Diaspora and Black Studies'' (Toronto: Insomniac Press). * 2019, ''BlackLife: Post-BLM and the Struggle for Freedom'' with Idil Abdillahi (Winnipeg: ARP Books). * 2021, ''On Property'' (Windsor, Ontario: Biblioasis). * 2021, ''The Long Emancipation: Moving toward Black Freedom'' (Durham, NC: Duke University Press)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walcott, Rinaldo Barbadian emigrants to Canada Black Canadian non-fiction writers 21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers Living people Canadian sociologists Canadian literary critics Academic staff of the University of Toronto Canada Research Chairs Canadian gay writers 1965 births Black Canadian LGBTQ people Black Canadian scientists University of Toronto alumni 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people