*Artwork by Grupo Opni (São Paulo, Brazil)

Christen A. Smith, Ph.D. is a Black feminist anthropologist, social justice advocate, founder of Cite Black Women and Associate Professor of Anthropology and African and African Diaspora Studies at The University of Texas at Austin. Her work focuses on the gendered dimensions of anti-Black state violence and resistance in the Americas, particularly Brazil. 

Based on her long-term collaborations with black organizers in Brazil, Smith's book, Afro-Paradise: Blackness, Violence and Performance in Brazil  (University of Illinois Press, 2016) chronicles Black Brazilians' experiences with police violence in Salvador, Bahia and the dialectic between this violence and the state's construction of Bahia as an exotic space (afro-paradise). Using the lens of performance and performance theory, she examines the immediate and long-term impact of police violence on Black communities, particularly on Black women and Black families.

Building from Afro-Paradise, Smith's current research project theorizes sequela: the lingering, deadly impact of police violence on Black communities and especially women in Brazil and the U.S. 

Smith graduated with her A.B. in Anthropology from Princeton University and her Ph.D. in Cultural and Social Anthropology from Stanford University. In addition to writing and researching, she also collaborates with Black  Brazilian organizers in the struggle to end anti-Black genocide in Brazil and beyond.