B.A., Xavier University (New Orleans), 1978; M.A., Wake Forest University, 1980; Ph.D, Indiana University, 1991.

Currently teaching in the Department of Rhetoric at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. His research about black gay literature, black women's history, HIV/AIDS education, and black political conservatives has appeared in academic journals as well as popular anthologies such as Essex Hemphill's Brother to Brother.