Christienna Fryar
Christienna Fryar is a writer, historian, former academic, occasional broadcaster, and freelance consultant. Originally from Virginia’s Tidewater region, she received a bachelor’s degree in history at Duke University and did her MA and Ph.D. in history at Princeton University. She recently joined Mary Seacole House, a mental health charity in Liverpool, as their new CEO.
A leading expert in British, Caribbean, and Black history, Christienna uses history as a powerful tool in the fight for racial justice. Before leaving academia, she was the founding convener of the MA, Black British History at Goldsmiths, University of London, a well-respected programme rooted in anti-racist pedagogy that centers Black people, Black thought, Black history and Black students.
Since leaving academia, she has served as a member of the Church Commissioners Oversight Group which published a set of recommendations for an impact investment fund and grant program, joined the Board of the Tudor Trust, and led curriculum development projects at a few London primary schools. Christienna is also a trustee of the Black Cultural Archives.
She is in the process of completing a book called Entangled Lands: A Caribbean History of Britain. She consumes more pop culture than any one person should, and there is hardly a sport she doesn't enjoy watching.