Karsonya “Kaye” Wise Whitehead is an associate professor of communication and African and African American studies at Loyola University Maryland and the award-winning author of “Notes from a Colored Girl: The Civil War Pocket Diaries of Emilie Frances Davis”; a K-12 master teacher in African American history; an award-winning curriculum writer and lesson plan developer; an award-winning former Baltimore City middle school teacher; and, a three-time New York Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker. She hold s Ph.D. in language, literacy, and culture from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and a M.A. degree in international peace studies from the University of Notre Dame, Indiana. From 2013-2015, Dr. Whitehead was selected as one of only four experts to participate in the White House’s Black History Month Panel co-sponsored by President Obama and the Association for the Study of African American Life and History ASALH on topics ranging from the Emancipation Proclamation to the president’s policies on women and girls. In February 2016, Dr. Whitehead received the Joan B. Kroc’s Institute for International Peace Studies “Distinguished Alumni” Award for her work as a peace activist, scholar, filmmaker, writer, and poet. In 2015 her book, “Notes from a Colored Girl,” was awarded the Darlene Clark Hine Book Award for Best Book in African American women’s and gender history from the Organization of American Historians (OAH) and in 2014, it received the Letitia Woods Brown Book Award for Best Edited Book in African American History from the Association of Black Women Historians. In addition, Dr. Whitehead was awarded the 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Progressive National Baptist Convention (PNBC); was selected as one of the top 25 women professors in Maryland by Online Schools Maryland; and in 2013, she was the recipient of Loyola University Maryland’s Faculty Award for Excellence in Engaged Scholarship for her work documenting the stories of women who are temporarily experiencing homelessness.
Kaye has trained over 2500 K-12 teachers throughout the country in how to become culturally responsive teachers in diverse environments. She is the author of several book chapters, articles, opinion editorials, and four books, “RaceBrave: new and selected works “(2016); “Letters to My Black Sons: Raising Boys in a Post-Racial America ” (2015); the award-winning “Notes from a Colored Girl: The Civil War Pocket Diaries of Emilie Frances Davis” (2014); “Sparking the Genius: The Carter G. Woodson Lecture” (2014); and, the co-editor of “Rethinking Emilie Frances Davis: Lesson Plans for Teaching her 1863-1865 Pocket Diaries” (2014).
Her forthcoming book, “The Emancipation Proclamation: Race Relations on the Eve of Reconstruction” (Routledge), and her encyclopedia collection, “50 Key Events that Shaped African American History” (ABC-CLIO) are due out in 2017. Dr. Whitehead is an in-demand motivational speaker, a prolific blogger, and a frequent guest host on The Marc Steiner Show (WEAA 88.9 FM). Her website is http://kayewisewhitehead.com and she lives in Baltimore with her family.