Dr. Danielle Pilar Clealand (PhD University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; MA New York University; BA Tufts University) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mexican American and Latino Studies and holds a secondary appointment in the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies.  Her research examines comparative racial politics, group consciousness, black public opinion and racial inequality with a focus on the Spanish-speaking Caribbean and the United States using an interdisciplinary approach with mixed methods. 

Dr. Clealand’s book, The Power of Race in Cuba: Racial Ideology and Black Consciousness during the Revolution, examines racial ideology and the institutional mechanisms that support racial inequality in Cuba. The book outlines structural racism the island and the experiences of discrimination that create a foundation for black solidarity. The Power of Race in Cuba won both the Best Book Award from the Race, Ethnicity and Politics section of the American Political Science Association and the W.E.B. Du Bois Distinguished Book Award from the National Conference of Black Political Scientists.