I am a specialist in West Central African history during the era of the transatlantic slave trade, including the Atlantic World and the African diaspora, in the era of the transatlantic slave trade (ca. 1550-1860). My work combines social and economic history, focusing on slavery, migration, colonialism, collective versus individual property rights, and gender.  

I am working on a new book, Beyond Queens and Captives: Women in Angola, 1500-1880s stressing the significance of women’s contribution to political organizations, religious institutions, and economic activities. My previous book, Wealth, Land and Property in Angola: A History of Dispossession, Slavery and Inequality (2022) won the  2023 African Studies Association Best Book Award.

My earlier books include , An African Slaving Port and the Atlantic World (2013); which  received an honorable mention / African Studies Association.  I also wrote book, Fronteras de esclavización: esclavitud, comercio e identidade en Benguela, 1780-1850 (2011),which was translated into Portuguese as Fronteras da Escravização (2018) and published in Angola. Besides these monographs, I organized A Cultural History of Slavery and Human Trafficking in the Age of Empire (Bloomsbury, 2024); co-edited with Adam Jones, African Women in the Atlantic World. Property, Vulnerability and Mobility, 1680-1880 (2019); co-edited with Carlos Liberato, Paul Lovejoy and Renée Soulodre-La France, Laços Atlânticos: África e africanos durante a era do comércio transatlântico de escravos (Museu Nacional da Escravatura/ Ministério da Cultura, 2017); and Crossing Memories: Slavery and African Diaspora, with Ana Lucia Araujo and Paul Lovejoy (2011).

I am one of the editors of African Economic History and the Encyclopedia of Slavery, Slave Trade, and the Diaspora in African History. At Emory, I teach courses on African and Atlantic History, Slavery and Abolition, and African Women’s history.