Bio

Born and raised in Southeast Raleigh, Ajamu Dillahunt-Holloway is an Assistant Professor of African American History and Public History at NC State University. His research is on twentieth century African American history with a focus on the U.S. South, labor, environmental justice, and the Black Freedom Struggle. Dillahunt-Holloway’s first book, titled, Black Workers for Justice: A History of Southern Labor and Black Liberation During the New Nadir, will be published with UNC Press in February 2027. His research and commitment to making the world a better place has allowed him to travel to South Africa, Cuba, Palestine, and Senegal. At present, he is a board member of the Interreligious Foundation of Community Organizations (IFCO), the North Carolina Environmental Justice Network (NCEJN), and Labor South. Dillahunt-Holloway’s work has been published in Black Perspectives, The Journal of African American History, Labor, The Nubian Message, and countless other academic, social justice, and community publications.

He has served as an Interinstitutional Scholar for Diversity and Inclusion in the Department of History at East Carolina University, an Assistant Editor with the award winning blog Black Perspectives, an intern with the SNCC Digital Gateway Project at Duke University, a research Assistant for Charlie Cobb, a “Book Acquisition” student worker at Duke University Press, and an Editorial Assistant for The Journal of African American History, the oldest and leading scholarly journal in its field.

Dillahunt-Holloway earned his Ph.D. in History from Michigan State University in 2023. He holds a B.A. in History and a B.A. in Political Science from North Carolina Central University.

Until February 2027, his exhibit on Raleigh’s First African American Bookstore will be up at the Gregg Museum of Art and Design.