Armanthia Duncan is a proud native of Mississippi. She began her collegiate trajectory at Jackson State University, the historically black university in the state’s capital, studying political science under the tutelage of some of the state’s most ardent and influential civil rights activists. She was trained early to view her educational pathway as a vital tool to elevate the causes of racial uplift and liberation. She attended the University of Memphis where she earned two Masters of Arts degrees in both History and Sociology.  During that time, she also earned a Graduate Certificate in Women and Gender Studies. Upon graduating from UofM, she was accepted into the University of Massachusetts-Amherst’s Department of Sociology doctoral program, where she is currently ABD.