On this page, we highlight Black linguists who have contributed to the study of African American Language in the United States. Some have worked on AAL in the variationist sociolinguistic paradigm, while others focus on educational or psycholinguistic questions. This list is not meant to be exhaustive. At the bottom of the page, we include an In Memoriam section.
If you have a suggestion for an addition, or if you are on this list and want to be removed, please contact us at OnlineResourcesAAL@gmail.com.
H. Samy Alim
April Baker-Bell
Arnetha Ball
John Baugh
Renée Blake
Jennifer Bloomquist
Dominique Branson
Erica Britt
Kendra Calhoun
Dominique Canning
Anne Charity Hudley
Tracy Conner
Charles DeBose
Michel DeGraff
Walter F. Edwards
Sabriya Fisher
Shivonne Gates
Akiemi Glenn
Shelome Gooden
Lisa Green
Jessi Grieser
Shenika Hankerson
Joseph Hill
Nicole Holliday
Yolanda Holt
Tiffany M. Jones
Sharese King
Sonja Lanehart
Qiuana Lopez
Zion Mengesha
John H. McWhorter
Carolyn McCaskill
deandre a. miles-hercules
David Mitchell
Claudia Mitchell-Kernan
Simanique Moody
Marcyliena Morgan
Salikoko Mufwene
Jamaal Muwwakkil
Monica Nesbitt
Brandi Newkirk-Turner
Django Paris
Staci Perryman-Clark
Sarah Phillips
Jaylen Pittman
Mackenzie Price
Minnie Quartey
Jacquelyn Rahman
Elaine Richardson
Angela E. Rickford
John Rickford
Harry Seymour
Nandi Sims
Walter Sistrunk
Hiram Smith
Geneva Smitherman
Arthur K. Spears
Ida Stockman
Orlando Taylor
J. Michael Terry
Nicole Patton Terry
Jamie A. Thomas
Denise Troutman
Julie A. Washington
Alicia Beckford Wassink
Rachel Elizabeth Weissler
Tracey Weldon
Bonnie J. Williams-Farrier
Kelly Elizabeth Wright
Mary Zeigler
William Edward Farrison (1902 - 1985)
Jerrie C. Scott (1944 - 2017)
Gary Simpkins (1943 - 2009)
Lorenzo Dow Turner (1890 - 1972)
Fay Vaughn-Cooke (1947 - 2010)
Margaret Wade-Lewis (1945 - 2009)
Mark Hanna Watkins (1903 - 1976)
Darnell Williams (1944 - 2021)
Robert Lee Williams II (1930 - 2020)
Juanita Williamson (1917 - 1993)
Charlie Farrington, March 2023