Gladys Michell-Walthour, North Carolina Central University

Dr. Gladys Mitchell-Walthour is the Dan Blue Endowed Chair of Political Science at North Carolina Central University. Dr. Mitchell-Walthour studies racial politics in Brazil, affirmative action, and the intersection of social welfare, race, and gender. 

Her current book, The Politics of Survival: The Political Opinions of Social Welfare Beneficiaries in Brazil and the USA, is published by Columbia University Press in 2023. Many scholars believe the success of these leaders is the result of Evangelical voters. Dr. Mitchell-Walthour uses an intersectional analysis to demonstrate why these explanations do not neatly fit the case of poor Afro-descendant women in select cities in Brazil and the USA.  She discusses their progressive political opinions and why race, gender, and politics scholars should include poor Black women at the center of scholarship, and how comparative scholarship highlights the interaction of national myths and attitudes.