Meet Dr. Henry

Dr. Randal Henry is a Los Angeles–born Black Angeleno, independent public scholar, author, publisher, and public health research scientist whose work documents and interprets the people, histories, institutions, and cultural landscapes of Los Angeles County. Raised and educated in Los Angeles County and a longtime resident of the Crenshaw District, he brings to his historical research a combination of academic training, public-sector experience, documentary investigation, and firsthand knowledge of the communities at the center of his books.

He is the founder of Go Crenshaw Publications, an independent, Black-founded publishing enterprise dedicated to public scholarship, historical documentation, and cultural education. He also founded Community Intelligence, LLC, an Afrocentric public health research and policy consulting firm. His publications include Born in South Los Angeles, Black Firsts in Los Angeles, California, Go South LA, Go Crenshaw, and C is for Capoeira. His expanding body of work includes the Go Series, the Outstanding Series, and Malcolm, Martin, and Black Los Angeles.

Dr. Henry approaches local history as civic knowledge that deserves rigorous investigation, careful interpretation, and broad public access. His work draws upon historical newspapers, archival collections, public records, scholarly research, and community knowledge to examine Black achievement, institutional development, cultural expression, and struggles for equality. His research reflects the conviction that independent public scholarship can contribute substantively to historical understanding while making knowledge accessible beyond traditional academic institutions. He earned his Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) and Master of Public Health (MPH) from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and his B.A. in Political Science from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.