In her PhD project, Debby Esmeé focuses on the transnational character of the Black Power movement and its influence on societies outside the United States. In particular, she hopes to demonstrate how the ideology of the African American movement for black pride and self-determination influenced political and cultural resistance in the Netherlands Antilles and Suriname in the 1960s and 1970s. By exploring the connection between African American and Dutch Caribbean protest in this period, she hopes to place resistance in the Dutch colonies into a broader context while also explaining its unique position in the Black Power movement.
Originally from the Netherlands, Debby Esmeé received her BA in Liberal Arts and Sciences (Cultural History, Philosophy, and Religious Studies) from University College Roosevelt in 2016, after which she completed an MSt in US History at the University of Oxford in 2017.