Eddie O’Byrn (African American Studies) is a 2024–2025 HRI Faculty Fellow. His current book project Existence Precedes Enslavement reconstructs the lives of Courtney and her son Joseph Godfrey who endured and survived American chattel slavery in the Northwest Territory during the 1800s.

Learn more about HRI’s Campus Fellowship Program, which supports a cohort of faculty and graduate students through a year of dedicated research and writing in a collaborative, interdisciplinary environment.

What is unique about your research on this topic?

My current research is for a book project titled Existence Precedes Enslavement that reconstructs the lives of two Black formerly enslaved people in the 1800s across Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. The book utilizes Black studies and contemporary Black philosophers to both paint a complex narrative and explore tensions within discussions of freedom, identity, and more. One reason that this kind of research is unique is the way that it approaches Black diasporic contributions to philosophy. As a philosopher by disciplinary training and a current professor of African American studies, my research offers an uncompromising focus on how enslaved Black diasporic peoples engaged in philosophical thinking. I pull from my disciplinary training to offer more robust ways to analyze and theorize about enslavement, resistance to oppression, and theories of freedom. A second reason that this research is unique is how it challenges a general myth about where chattel slavery occurred in America. Focusing on the lives of two Black enslaved people in what was the Northwestern edge of the American empire, this research intersects with military history, Indigenous studies, and more. It invites a more critical conversation about chattel slavery’s extensive history.

What drives your interest in this research?

Above all, my research is motivated by what Black feminist bell hooks called loving blackness. For hooks, the act of loving Black life is an act of political resistance against forces of death and domination that confront Black peoples. Starting from the beginning of my graduate work, I have seen antiblack actions that harmed Black students, disregarded Black intellectual histories, and denied the achievements of Black academics. This motivated me to reject the norms of my discipline and focus my research on Black and African American philosophy. During my dissertation work, I saw that figures like Angela Davis, Frederick Douglass, and Ida B. Wells were motivated by the same commitment as hooks: loving Black people against the lethal forces of antiblack violence, discrimination, and domination. It is my honor to join a long lineage of Black intellectuals who advocate against violence to reclaim and affirm Black life. My current book tries to do that in ways that don’t unduly celebrate or scrutinize Black history while underscoring the immense power in Black histories of freedom struggle.

How has the fellowship seminar shaped the way you’re approaching your research?

The fellows of the seminar have provided an amazing sense of generosity, charity, and collegiality. This has been one of the most affirming experiences of sharing my own humanities research that I’ve ever had. Beyond the opportunity to receive feedback, it has been a chance to make friendships and bonds with scholars across the humanities. Reading the powerful and insightful projects being conducted at the university is a unique and humbling experience. The fellowship seminar space really helps emphasize how interdisciplinary work can strengthen research and generate new discussions for everyone. I encourage anyone looking to grow with their fellow humanities scholars to apply!