Growing up as a bi-racial kid to a dad from Mexico and a mom from the American South sounds like a plot of a sitcom. One that Gabriel Cruz has the wit, sharpness, creativity, and voice to star in. He was inspired by his marine biologist grandfather to consider a career working with animals, but the math of it all pointed him in a more creative direction. His parents did not have access to education, which meant Gabriel had to navigate the unwritten rules of academia on his own.

Listen to the story of how the kid with a 2.9 GPA earned his PhD and became Assistant Professor of Media Studies in the department of Mass Communication at North Carolina Central University in Durham, NC. Dr. Cruz shares some of his research on intersectional critical race analysis of popular culture, especially superhero narratives. His work has appeared in the academic periodicals Journal of Alternative and Community Media and Howard Journal of Communications, as well as in the edited volumes such as Black Panther: Afrofuturism, Gender, Identity, and the Re-Making of Blackness. His forthcoming book Latinidad, Identity Formation, and the Mass Media Landscape: Constructing Pocho Villa addresses how mass media has engaged with the subject of Latinx identity in the United States.

Oh, and he dispels 5 myths about people of color in academia.

#careerpodcast #blackwomenpodcast #professor #writer #latinoeducator #firstgeneration #mediastudies #criticalracescholar #intersectionality #parasocialrelationshiptheory #salarytransparency

WHERE TO FIND GABRIEL

Tik Tok & Instagram

https://www.tiktok.com/@gacruz_phd

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/gacruz_phd/

Office Hours with Dr. C Podcast

https://open.spotify.com/show/04b5hujWtCCXLDRf9ptc2c?si=d1e802e6c80a46d3

More things Dr. C

https://linktr.ee/GacruzPhD