Alexandra Gessesse is a cultural worker, daughter of the diaspora, and PhD Candidate in the Department of African Diaspora Studies at UC Berkeley. Alexandra’s dissertation examines how Ethiopian and Eritrean immigrants navigate historically Black neighborhoods in the U.S., forging new forms of belonging through the lenses of place, politics, and popular culture. As a visual storyteller, Alexandra uses photography and video to capture the everyday moments where these complex negotiations of identity unfold—revealing how Blackness is performed, contested, and reimagined through their daily practices of placemaking. More broadly, her research interests include the African Diaspora and Africa, Colonialism, community and neighborhood organizations, Culture (music, visual art, film), Political Economy, and Transnationalism.
Alexandra's work has been featured in publications from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Decolonize Design, and Zocalo Public Square. She is a regular contributor to the Lebawi Sonar, a local journal for Lebawi International Academy located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
