She’s a published author, an award-winning filmmaker, and a tenured scholar – titles that only begin to scratch the surface of a woman who has built a career redefining narratives around race, gender, and representation in popular culture. At the intersection of academia and creativity, Sheena C. Howard is not just part of the conversation. She’s shaping it.
Born and raised in Southwest Philadelphia, Howard’s early years were rooted in a community that gave her both grit and clarity. But it was in the classroom, and later behind the camera and pen, where she found her voice — not just to tell stories, but to challenge entire systems through them.
In 2014, she made history as the first Black woman to win an Eisner Award – the highest honour in the comic book industry — for her co-edited anthology Black Comics: Politics of Race and Representation. The book was more than a deep academic dive into the contributions of Black artists in comics. It was a reclamation. A reminder that Black creatives have always been part of the industry, even when not centred in its mainstream history.
Howard didn’t stop there. She authored Encyclopedia of Black Comics, a groundbreaking work that maps the legacy and impact of Black cartoonists and writers in a space often seen as white and male-dominated. Her voice in the field became essential — academic enough for scholars, but accessible enough to reach classrooms, boardrooms, and comic conventions alike.
But Howard’s influence isn’t limited to bookshelves. Her 2016 documentary Remixing Colourblind, which examines racial dynamics and unconscious bias in higher education, brought her scholarship to the screen. The film sparked dialogue across campuses and institutions, offering a sobering look at how racial inequality persists even in spaces that claim progress.
She is also the founder of Power Your Research, a coaching and consulting platform helping academics, especially marginalised voices, to build their brands and translate their research into impactful careers outside the ivory tower. That initiative alone says everything about her ethos: it’s not just about getting the spotlight. It’s about building a stage where others can stand, speak, and thrive.
Sheena C. Howard’s approach is part intellectual activism, part storytelling, and all grounded in purpose. Whether she’s unpacking representation in superhero comics, mentoring Black women in academia, or dissecting systemic bias through film, she does it with precision, conviction, and the rare ability to move seamlessly between the page, the screen, and the classroom.
