Dr. Tarik Richardson is an Africologist and a Professor of African American & Diaspora Studies at Xavier University of Louisiana, the nation's on Catholic HBCU. In 2015 Dr. Richardson, an undergraduate at the University of Oregon and a Gilman Scholar, traveled to the East Coast of Africa to study abroad at the State University of Zanzibar. After graduating from the University of Oregon, he earned his Masters and Doctorate at Temple University, where he studied Africology. Dr. Richardson published his first book "The Lion's Storyteller: An Introduction to Pan-African Folktales" with the Kendall Hunt Publishing Company. In 2024 Dr. Richardson was recognized as one of Temple University's '30 under 30' alumni award winners.