UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State College of Education faculty member Wilson Kwamogi Okello recently published his first book, “On Blackness, Liveliness, and What it Means to Be Human.” The book examines the intersection of history, race and identity, and what this means for the higher education context.
“To accomplish this, I developed a theoretical and methodological focus on Blackness to rethink ideas about humanity underpinning the field of student development,” explained Okello, assistant professor of higher education and research associate at the Center for the Study of Higher Education in the Department of Education Policy Studies.
Okello said his inspiration for the book came from “a diverse chorus of writers and cultural workers.” He specifically cited Canadian scholar and writer Katherine McKittrick, writer and activist James Baldwin, scholar and writer Sadiya Hartman, writer and activist Audre Lorde and writer Sylvia Wynter as those who influenced him.
But it was Mikael Owunna’s photography series “Infinite Essence,” in which Owunna explored indigenous African knowledge systems and set out to present Blackness as the source from which everything emerges, that Okello credited for sparking his engagement in the project.
“Owunna’s series challenged conventional representations and encouraged viewers to see Blackness as beautiful and complex,” Okello said. “This interplay between art and culture allowed me to draw connections between theoretical frameworks and lived experiences.”