Cheryl X. Dong

Cheryl X. Dong is an assistant professor in the Department of History a Bowling Green State University. She specializes in African American history with an emphasis on memory and cultural heritage studies. Her work asks questions about how African American history is interpreted to various publics and how museums, historical sites, and other institutions can foster relationships and trust with marginalized communities through the work of public history. Her book manuscript (under contract with UNC Press), "Why Don't You Die for the People? Memory and Martyrdom in the Black Panther Party," challenges established narratives of violence and the Black Panther Party by showing how the Panthers used confrontations with law enforcement to render visible police brutality and its role in perpetuating racial inequality.

Professor Dong is currently working on a second book manuscript tentatively entitled, "The World on Fire: Forging Black Power Internationalism in the Vietnam War.” She hopes to use her fellowship to begin archival research for this project, researching in the University of Michigan’s ample collections on Black radicalism and New Left movements.