Kristy L.

Kristy is a PhD student in the American Studies Department at the University of Maryland and holds two graduate certificates in Digital Studies in the Arts & Humanities, and in Museum Scholarship and Material Culture. A local to the DMV area, Kristy is a cultural worker within Latinx, BIPOC and queer communities in DC and is also a longtime community educator and organizer, supporting young people of color in developing and enacting their visions for personal and collective liberation. Kristy’s research explores the history, politics, and cultural practices of DC-area alternative and underground communities centered around people of color especially in the 1970s-2000s. She examines the quotidian rituals and material culture that these communities use in order to help facilitate and organize their spaces, sustain interconnectivity, cultivate belonging, and weave worlds.