Ashanté M. Reese - D.C. Policy Center

Dr. Ashanté M. Reese is assistant professor of anthropology at Spelman College. She holds a PhD in Anthropology from American University, specializing in race, gender, and social justice. Dr. Reese also holds a Bachelor of Arts in History with a minor in African American studies from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, and a Master of Arts in Public Anthropology from American University.

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Written By Ashanté M. Reese

Articles | D.C. History | Public Health | Racial Equity

The history of Deanwood’s local foodscape

In an excerpt from her new book Black Food Geographies: Race, Self-Reliance, and Food Access in Washington, D.C., Dr. Ashanté M. Reese examines the history of the majority-Black Deanwood neighborhood of Washington, D.C. to unpack the structural forces that determine food access in urban areas. Based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork, Reese not only documents racism and residential segregation in the nation’s capital but also tracks the ways transnational food corporations have shaped food availability.

May 20, 2019 | Ashanté Reese