Tumaini Ussiri’s work focuses on 19th and 20th-century African American literature and questions of social and/or political death. More specifically, he is interested in the ways African American authors from this period resist the pull of nihilism, pessimism, and hopelessness to produce works that compel us to think critically about what Black life looks like in the wake of violence and death. His interests include 19th/20th-century African American literature, race, affect theory, and religion.