Javier Wallace

Background

About Javier Wallace

I’m passionate about curating travel experiences that center Black histories, contributions and experiences and sports. I was awarded the Best Travel Influencer or Promoter in Texas by the Texas Travel Awards in 2021. I connect people, histories and stories through disrupting public spaces. I founded Black Austin Tours in 2019 and I’m the co-founder of AfroLatinx Travel. My work on curating Black-centered travel experiences and the promotion of Black histories has been featured in The USA Today, Conde Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure, ESPN's Longhorn Network, Vibe Magazine, Rezmelca and other outlets. I’ve also have been featured on The Secrets of The Underground Railroad produced by the Science Channel.Part of my scholarly research focuses on sport. I employ sport to inspect social issues and develop innovative solutions. I am most currently creating solutions to attack “basketball trafficking”(human trafficking in US high school basketball) around the globe. My dissertation Sueños del norte: Black Panamanian Hoop Dreams & the Realities of Basketball Trafficking was selected by Harvard University's Afro-Latin America Research Institute(ALARI) as a top topic of Afro-Latin American studies in 2020. I was also selected as a fellow of University of Pennsylvania's Migration Initiative (PMI). As a multilingual individual not bound by national boundaries, I’ve been able to leverage my passion and skills on a global scale. Being a former Division I football student-athlete and coach strengthens my connection providing social justice orientation and motivational speeches to student-athletes across the U.S.