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Photograph of Natalie Hopkinson

Natalie Hopkinson Associate Professor Journalism

Degrees
B.A., Political Science, Howard University
M.A., Journalism and Public Affairs, University of Maryland-College Park
Ph.D. Journalism and Public Communication, University of Maryland-College Park

Favorite Spot on Campus
The rooftop @ McKinley
Bio
Dr. Natalie Hopkinson is Associate Professor of Media, Democracy & Society. She is the author of three books, and a former staff writer, editor and columnist at the Washington Post, The Root and Huffington Post. She specializes in Black and Indigenous culture, music, art, history, and knowledge systems. She co-founded the Don’t Mute DC movement to protect go-go, DC's indigenous funk sound, and co-led a coalition of scholars, activists and artists that successfully advocated for DC Law 23-71 Go-Go Official Music of the District of Columbia Act and the creation of the Go-Go Museum & Cafe. She has served the arts and cultural sector through appointments to the Culture Caucus of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the National Folklife Network of the National Endowment for the Arts, and the District of Columbia Commission on the Arts and Humanities. She has curated programs and exhibitions for the Go-Go Museum & Cafe, where she is Chief Curator, and the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Humanities DC, and others.

SELECTED HONORS

Natalie Hopkinson's books include: A Mouth is Always Muzzled (2018, The New Press), Go-Go Live (2012, Duke University Press) and Deconstructing Tyrone with Natalie Y. Moore (2006, Cleis Press). Her writing was recognized by the Hurston/Wright Legacy Awards, PEN-America, and the Independent Publishers Association, SPIN Magazine, among others.

The Capstone Group, the D.C. Commission on Women, and The Poverty & Race Research Action Council named her a “flame of inspiration” and “cultural influencer” and “voice for racial justice.” District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser proclaimed Nov. 5, 2021 “Pushy Woman Day” in Washington, D.C. to honor her success challenging entrenched special political interests in the arts. She is the recipient of the 2023 Artist Activist award from the Canady Foundation for the Arts and the 2024 "Wammie" Award for Music Advocacy.
For the Media
To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.

Teaching

Fall 2024

  • COMM-445 Global Journalism in 21st Cent

  • COMM-468 Musical Cultures & Industries

  • CORE-106 Complex Problems Seminar: Music/Mass Movements/Democracy

Spring 2025

  • COMM-270 How News Med Shape Hist