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Marcus Board Jr. Invisible Weapons Semicolon Bookstore Chicago

Hi, I'm Marcus

My name is Marcus Board Jr. I am a tenured Associate Professor of Political Science at Howard University. I earned my Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 2017 in Political Science.  At its center, my academic research is about the same things as my life's work - liberation. 

My Story

I tell folks that I grew up in the belly of an imperial beast as an enlisted military "dependent." I was born into U.S. warmongering, cultural violence, and domination on a scale that I wish never existed. Somehow I knew it was wrong as a young kid, but standing up for what was right got me in more trouble - so I embraced the trouble. For that, there will always be a soft spot in my heart for poorly behaved young people (my first expulsion was in preschool) and for folks finding their way in a world that denies them at every turn (0 teachers willing to write me letters of rec for college). Big shout out to Dr. Freeman Hrabowski for seeing my potential and offering a full academic scholarship to UMBC. That break plus my mother helping me get a job at a middle school summer program were two keys to a future still being realized today

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The world hides so many revolutionary truths, I'm still discovering them to this day. And while I have much more story to tell, I'll leave with a Pauli Murray quote that's meant so much to me. Speaking on their contributions to justice, Murray says “In not a single one of these little campaigns was I victorious. In other words, in each case, I personally failed, but I have lived to see the thesis upon which I was operating vindicated. And what I very often say is that I've lived to see my lost causes found.”

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Here's to more causes and more dedicated people who will find them and, one day, finish the work. In solidarity - Mb

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