About Justin Reid

I was born in Richmond, but raised just outside the Town of Farmville in Southside Virginia (Google: Davis v. County School Board). I guess you could say I’m the product of a reversed “Great Migration.” After finishing college, my parents moved to New York, then Richmond, but they wanted to raise my two older sisters and me the way they were brought up – near family. So a few years before I was born, they returned to their childhood home – Cumberland County, VA – and that’s where we’ve been ever since.

I grew up going swimming and fishing every summer at Bear Creek Lake, riding bikes around my grandparents’ home (which had once been their family farm), and hanging out in my late grandfather’s pool hall. I think spending so much time with my grandparents is the reason I wanted to become a history professor. I majored in American Studies with a minor in Global/African Studies.

While attending William & Mary I traveled to Africa twice – first to Tanzania as a member of the student-run international service organization, AIDSTanzania, and secondly to South Africa through a summer study abroad program. I also studied in Southern France. I was a volunteer and advocate in the local public schools beginning freshman year and I served as president of the William & Mary NAACP.

I definitely grew A LOT during my four years at W&M. It wasn’t always easy, but I can honestly say that joining the Tribe was the best choice I could’ve ever made.

Thanks for checking out my blog.

Go Tribe! Hark Upon the Gale.

JGR