M. Keith Claybrook, Jr., Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Africana Studies at CSU, Long Beach. His research areas include the Black Freedom Movement, Black Los Angeles, African Deep Thought, Black Intellectual Histories, and the discipline of Africana Studies. In addition, Claybrook is the author of Building the Basics: A Handbook for Pursuing Academic Excellence in Africana Studies which is now in its third edition. The handbook offers tips, tidbits, and suggestions for studying at home, African Deep Thought and critical thinking, critical reading and questioning, scholarly writing, working collaboratively in groups, and preparing for quizzes and exams. He also has a chapter entitled “African Deep Thought: An African Centered Approach to Critical Thinking” in the forthcoming book New Perspectives in Africana Studies. Claybrook is currently working on two books. The first is a co-authored book entitled Voices from the Black Freedom Movement in Los Angeles: 1955-75 and the second is a single authored book entitled Voices of Black Men in Compton, 1970-1990. He is also a life-time member to the African American Intellectual History Society and is a regular contributor to its award-winning blog Black Perspectives. He has also published in the International Journal of Africana Studies, the Journal of Black Studies, the Journal of African American Studies, and Africology: The International Journal of Pan African Studies. Claybrook has been interviewed and lent his expertise to print, television, and online blogs such as the Black Studies Podcast with Dr. Ashley Newby. He served two terms as faculty co-president of the Black Faculty and Staff Association at CSULB as well as advises the Black Student Union and the Black Business Student Association. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the African American Cultural Center of Long Beach.