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Brandon Archer is a senior at Swarthmore College, pursuing a special double major in English and Black Studies titled "Visual Cultures and Literatures of the African Diaspora". He has been awarded the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, a central part of the Andrew Mellon Foundation. Through the fellowship, the research he conducts asks questions about the imagination and image of Black futurity in a political moment that has situated us so close to death. Considering how relationships to movement, body, and self have been negotiated by Contemporary artists to account for such fatal closeness. Additionally, Brandon has been a research assistant and consultant with the Norwegian Students’ and Academics’ International Assistance Fund under Amy Kapit, contributing to a comprehensive report on the increasing regression of civic space and students activist's rights.
Recognized nationally for his organizing efforts and racial justice work, he joined the Philly education programs and policy nonprofit UrbEd, Inc. in 2020 as Communications Director, and now serves as Executive Director for the organization’s team, consultants, and Bullhorn Newspaper— the city’s only student-led newspaper. Fundraising an annual budget of over $150k, he has maintained and expanded relationships with key stakeholders throughout the city, including the William Penn Foundation, Philadelphia Foundation, Stoneleigh Foundation, and various Philadelphia organizers, politicians, and cultural groups. He has successfully launched a collaborative youth space in Center City and campaigns addressing gun violence and youth participation on the Board of Education. Additionally, he is a founding member and former chairman of the Philadelphia Black Students’ Alliance. On campus, Brandon is a Writing Associate, Resident Assistant, President of the Afro-American Student Society, and President of the Swarthmore McCabe Society, the college’s only full-tuition merit scholarship program.