Janelle McDowell is originally from Cleveland, Ohio and now lives in New Jersey. She graduated from The Lawrenceville School, and went on to graduate cum laude from The George Washington University as the first and only Korean Language and Literature major in the history of the school. It was there that she discovered her three passions: learning Korean, drawing, and writing.
After graduation, Janelle moved to Seoul, South Korea where she attended Korea University Graduate School and majored in Modern Korean Literature. Even in Korea, she was sure to spread her passion for her ancestors and educating others about African-American history. She conducted a series of lectures titled, “The History of Racism,” where she taught Korean students about slavery, the myth of race, and the dangers of racism. She also appeared on a South Korean web show sponsored by the Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS) where she discussed the movie Get Out from an African-American’s point of view, utilizing her Korean speaking skills, available here. Since return to the United States, she has been working for Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage as an associate researcher while working on her debut historical science fiction novel. She can trace her ancestry to over 38 enslaved people of African descent. In October 2018, she published her first book, Forced American Heroes Coloring and Activity Book, available on amazon.