My work examines how systems of inequality shape everyday life—especially through food. I study how communities navigate scarcity, craft dignity, and create new possibilities for care and survival. My research spans Cuba, Los Angeles, and other regions where food systems reveal the entanglements of race, health, and structural violence
writings
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My writing explores how people navigate inequality in their daily lives, with a particular focus on food, health, and care. I write about Black, Latinx, and working-class communities in places like Cuba, Los Angeles, and the U.S. South—communities whose experiences are often shaped by histories of colonialism, racial capitalism, and state neglect. Through books, articles, and essays, I examine how food becomes a site of both struggle and possibility, where survival is practiced and dignity is defended. Across all of my work, I aim to challenge extractive narratives and offer stories that reflect people’s power, complexity, and ongoing fight for justice.
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Current Projects
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This project documents the stories of farmers, gardeners, and seed savers who are preserving culturally significant plants and seeds. In collaboration with Princeton University, Spelman College, and the Ujamaa Cooperative Farming Alliance, it explores what makes a crop worth saving and who gets to decide.
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This research examines why Puerto Rico, despite having over 2,000 artisanal fishers, imports most of its food rather than relying on local seafood. It explores how small-scale fishers navigate climate change, conservation, and marine policy to build sustainable and sovereign food futures.
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Teaching
My teaching is shaped by the same questions that guide my research—how power is lived, contested, and reimagined through everyday practices. I invite students to think critically about race, gender, inequality, and care, using tools from feminist methodologies, critical race theory, and ethnographic inquiry. The classroom becomes a space to explore not only how systems function, but how people resist and reshape them.