Toni-Mokjaetji Humber

Toni-Mokjaetji Humber is a native Angeleno who can trace her family heritage in Los Angeles to the early
1920s. She received her Bachelors of Arts degree in Sociology from California State University, Los Angeles, a Masters in Education from Loyola Marymount University, and her Doctorate in Sociolinguistics from Howard University. She is a professor in the Ethnic and Women’s Studies Department at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Her research interests focus on African and African American culture and history, Ebonics and its educational implications, as well as ethnic studies, sociolinguistics, and inter-cultural communication.

Dr. Humber taught in the Los Angeles Unified School District for many years and was director for the Program for Achieving Communication Excellence in the School of Communications at Howard University, Washington, D.C., for four years. She has been in the College of Education and Integrative Studies at Cal Poly Pomona for eleven years and has been a faculty member in the Ethnic and Women’s Studies Department for eight years. She is a world sojourner who has traveled extensively throughout Africa and the Caribbean. She strives to uncover truths, dispel distorted images, perceptions, and notions about culturally diverse peoples, especially those of African descent. She seeks to endarken her students to see the light and learn about the dynamic histories, diverse cultures, and rich legacies of continental and diasporan Africans.

In 2000, Dr. Humber began her investigation of the African Diaspora in the Americas. Her research has taken her to Brazil, Panama and Mexico. Where Black Is Brown: The African Diaspora in Mexico is designed to further the understanding of the influence and contributions of Africans in the Americas. It especially is designed to foster greater understanding among African American, Chicano/Latino, and Indigenous communities about their historical connections, common struggles and triumphs, and their intermingled sangre (blood) that has produced beautiful and dynamic peoples of the Americas.

Website: http://www.csupomona.edu/~tchumber/ Email: tchumber@csupomona.edu