Albany State University (ASU) alumna Regina Bradley (‘06) will deliver the keynote address for the 2019 ASU Homecoming Convocation at 10 a.m., Friday, Oct. 11 at the HPER Gymnasium (East).

A distinguished author and scholar, Bradley is a 2016 Harvard University Nasir Jones HipHop Fellow and currently an assistant professor of English and African Diaspora Studies at Kennesaw State University (Kennesaw, Georgia). Her extensive expertise and research focuses on post-Civil Rights African American literature, hip hop culture, race and the contemporary U.S. South, and sound studies.

This year’s Homecoming theme is “Greatest of All Time.” Bradley’s address will highlight the concepts of greatness and legacy that guide her career and life as a black southerner and HBCU graduate. She will also discuss how those experiences heightened her confidence to become a trailblazer in her field and led her to “speaking truth to power.”

“I hope attendees will leave motivated to start or continue their journeys to create their own legacy of success while gaining a deeper appreciation for our great institution,” Bradley said.

Bradley's current book-length project, “Chronicling Stankonia: OutKast and the Rise of the Hip Hop South” (under contract, UNC Press), explores how Atlanta hip hop duo OutKast influences conversations about the Black American South after the Civil Rights Movement. “Chronicling Stankonia” stems from her critically acclaimed series “OutKasted Conversations,” a YouTube dialogue series about the impact of OutKast on popular culture.

Bradley's public scholarship is featured on a range of news media outlets including the Washington Post, NPR, NewsOne, SoundingOut!,  and Creative Loafing Atlanta. In May 2019, Bradley, along with music and culture journalist Christina Lee, started hosting the southern hip hop podcast Bottom of the Map for WABE (NPR Atlanta) and PRX (Public Radio Exchange). She is currently working on her first novel based on the short story “Beautiful Ones,” “The Ghosts Come Home,” about the disappearance of a teenage black boy in Southwest Georgia.

A third generation ASU graduate, Bradley earned a B.A. in English from Albany State, an M.A. in African American and African Diaspora Studies from Indiana University Bloomington in (Bloomington, Indiana) and a Ph.D. in African American Literature from Florida State (Tallahassee, Florida).