Noliwe Rooks facts for kids

Noliwe Rooks, born in 1963, is an American professor and writer. She is a top professor and leads the Africana Studies department at Brown University. She also started a special lab there called the Segrenomics Lab. Before coming to Brown, she taught at Cornell University.

Growing Up and School

Noliwe Rooks was born in 1963. Her mother, Belvie Rooks, was a writer from San Francisco. Noliwe grew up spending time in San Francisco with her mom. She also spent time in Florida with her dad and grandma. She even traveled to Africa and the Caribbean with her mother.

Noliwe went to Spelman College and earned her first degree in English. Later, she got her master's degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa.

Her Work as a Professor

Early Teaching Roles

By 1996, Noliwe Rooks became one of the first Black professors at the University of Missouri–Kansas City. She then worked at Princeton University for ten years. There, she was the associate director of the African-American program. While at Princeton, she wrote a book called White Money, Black Power. This book looked at the history of African American Studies and challenges related to race in higher education.

Teaching at Cornell and Brown

In 2012, Rooks became a professor at Cornell University. At Cornell, she held a special professorship in literature. During this time, she wrote another important book, Cutting School. This book talks about how public education is changing.

In Cutting School, Rooks created the word "segrenomics." This word describes how some businesses make money by selling "separate, segregated, and unequal" education. This happens when public schools become more private and less regulated. After teaching at Cornell until spring 2021, she joined the faculty at Brown University.

Books and Awards

Books She Has Written

Noliwe Rooks has written several books. These include:

• Hair Raising: Beauty, Culture and African American Women
• Ladies Pages: African American Women's Magazines and the Culture that Made Them
• White Money/Black Power: African American Studies and the Crises of Race in Higher Education
• Cutting School: Privatization, Segregation, and the End of Public Education

Awards and Recognition

Noliwe Rooks's work has received several awards:

• Her book Hair Raising won two awards in 1997. It received the Outstanding University Press Book Award and the Choice Award for Outstanding Academic Book.
• Her book Cutting School was a finalist for the 2018 Legacy Award. This award is given by the Hurston/Wright Foundation for excellent nonfiction books.