Alicia Desiree Odewale

My project is to write a narrative non-fiction manuscript centering my anthropological research alongside a larger story of Black community survival and healing. I am writing a book, tentatively entitled “Dreaming Underground: The Archaeology of Us”, A Story About Restorative Justice and Black Towns Across America, about the methods I use to fight for Black futures from the past, using the archaeology of my hometown Greenwood/Black Wall Street in Tulsa, Oklahoma as a case study and model for how restorative justice archaeology can be used to heal historical trauma in Black Towns and descendent communities across the U.S. The majority of the research necessary for this book was completed over the course of several years of archaeological research conducted in Greenwood and sponsored by the National Geographic Society. But this book project allows me to share the impacts of my archaeological research in terms of community impact and personal discovery in addition to the scientific results. From December 1 – September 1, I will complete the first full prospectus of this new manuscript and secure my first book contract.