Paul Cato

Building upon the conversational nature of Black thought, Paul’s work identifies, broadens, and develops transhistorical dialogues on love and religion between Black American thinkers, Black cultural spaces, and the Western canon. His current manuscript, Talk of Fire, Religion, and the Sensual: James Baldwin, Black Intellectuals, and the Discourse on Active Love, examines the discussions of love, religion, and politics that emerged during James Baldwin’s conversations with and canonization by Black intellectuals past and present. The project draws attention to the love’s significance within the Black radical tradition, especially in the work of Maya Angelou, Ralph Ellison, Audre Lorde, Toni Morrison, and bell hooks. Paul is a founding member of an international epilepsy awareness organization and an active alumnus of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship and diversity program. He has published work in The Los Angeles Review of Books and The Point.