Justice demands more than belief, it asks us to be accountable for how we use our voice, our labor, and our knowledge.

Amber Colquhoun

+1 (347) 535-2706

Who I Am

Hi I'm Amber! My work examines and aims to dismantle, racial and class-based inequalities through mixed-methods research, policy analysis, and sustained community engagement.

I am a PhD candidate in political science at University of Maryland, specializing in Black politics, political behavior, class stratification, and civic engagement. My research sits at the intersection of political science and social justice: I study how power, material resources, and race structure political behavior, and how policy can either entrench or challenge inequality.

Before pursuing my doctorate, I earned dual bachelor’s degrees in African American Studies and Psychology from Temple University. This interdisciplinary foundation continues to shape my approach: I engage both structural forces and lived experience, aiming to translate research into meaningful improvements for vulnerable communities.

Alongside my academic training, I bring extensive experience in nonprofit and policy spaces. I currently serve as a policy intern with the national American Civil Liberties Union, where I research and write on criminal legal system issues, including the death penalty. Previously, I worked with the Southern Poverty Law Center and The Bail Project, contributing to advocacy and research efforts aimed at protecting civil liberties and reducing the harms of poverty-based punishment. These roles sharpened my ability to translate research into arguments that influence institutions and remain accessible to people across social and educational backgrounds.

I am a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, a Rapoport Family Foundation grant recipient, and an American Political Science Association Minority Fellow.

Dissertation Project

My dissertation examines how political attitudes and behaviors vary across class positions among Black Americans. I argue that middle and upper-class Black Americans engage politics through a dual lens: one shaped by class-based interests, including property values, schools, and neighborhood investment, and another grounded in a racial group identity historically oriented toward collective uplift.

As Black Americans gain material and institutional resources, they also tend to gain political efficacy, trust in government, and deeper local engagement. At the same time, these gains can complicate expressions of racial solidarity, particularly when local redistributive policies are perceived as threats to economic security. The project challenges monolithic portrayals of Black political behavior and offers a more precise account of how class inequality and power operate within racial groups, showing how the interests of working-class Black communities are often sidelined in local political decision-making.

Research Philosophy

My research is explicitly intersectional and grounded in a commitment to working-class Black communities and other marginalized groups, with the goal of amplifying working-class voices and embedding their perspectives in policy and institutional decision-making.

Methodologically, I move across settings and audiences. My work includes quantitative analyses for peer-reviewed academic publications, statistical models and memos developed for nonprofit and policy organizations, policy briefs that translate data into actionable recommendations, and qualitative storytelling that foregrounds how people experience political and economic structures in their daily lives.

Research Interests

My broader research agenda includes, but is not limited to:

Racial equity
Poverty and economic stratification
Community and civic engagement
Political geography
Economic justice and redistribution