Javier Wallace

Javier is the “Master Storyteller.” He is the Race and Sport Postdoctoral Associate in the Department of African & African American Studies at Duke University. He completed his Ph.D. at The University of Texas at Austin. Javier’s research revolves around race, class, gender, labor migration, nationality, and transnationalism of athletes from the U.S., Latin America, and the Caribbean. Javier’s first book project, Sueños del Norte: Black Panamanian Hoop Dreams & the Realities of Basketball Trafficking, was selected as a top topic on Afro-Latin studies for the Master Mamolen Clark Dissertation Workshop, part of the Afro-Latin American Research Institute at the Hutchins Center, Harvard University. Javier’s work and research have been supported by fellowships and grants, including Joe Arbena Latin American Sport History Grant, The Latinx Project at New York University among others. Javier earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Florida A&M University, one of the country’s premier HBCUs, where he also played offensive lineman for the Rattler Football Team. He is of U.S. and Panamanian heritage and has served as athletic director and physical educator in the Republic of Panama. Javier is also the founder of Black Austin Tours. Additionally, he is the co-founder of the social entrepreneurial projects—AfroLatinx Travel and BlackPackas. In all endeavors through curation and narrative storytelling, Javier seeks to amplify the themes explored in both his lived experiences and academic research.

Bio September 2021