Ebony A. Utley, Ph.D. is an expert in popular culture, race, and romantic relationships. Her forthcoming book, Rap and Religion: Understanding The Gangsta’s God (Praeger, forthcoming), reveals how a God-sanctioned gangsta identity empowers young black people facing declining economic opportunities. Her edited anthology Power and Pleasure in Popular Culture (Cognella, forthcoming) examines the tension between what popular culture we enjoy and why we enjoy it.
In her other research, Utley examines how Americans talk about race and racism, asks probing questions about women’s experiences with infidelity, investigates African American beliefs about marriage, and explores the tenuous relationship between hip hop and love.
Utley co-edited Hip Hop’s Languages of Love (2009), and her work has appeared in Black Women, Gender, and Families, Critical Studies in Media Communication, Rhetoric and Public Affairs, The Journal of Men’s Studies, The Western Journal of Black Studies, and Women and Language.
In addition to national radio and print outlet appearances, Utley lectures at universities across the country and is a contributing blogger for Ms. Magazine, Religion Dispatches, and Truthdig. Her blogs have been cited by AlterNet, Beliefnet, Essence, Feminist Philosophers, Jezebel, Soapdom, and Racialicious.
Ebony Utley holds a certificate in Journalism and a B.A. in Speech Communication (with highest distinction), both from Indiana University Bloomington. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Communication Studies at Northwestern University as a Jacob K. Javits fellow. She is currently an assistant professor of Communication Studies at California State University Long Beach.