Dr. Racquel J. Gates is a film critic. Currently, she is an Associate Professor of Film at Columbia University. Her research focuses on blackness and popular culture, with special attention to discourses of taste and quality. Gates's first book, "Double Negative: The Black Image and Popular Culture," was published in 2018. Her work has appeared in academic and popular publications, including The New York Times, The Root, The Los Angeles Review of Books, Film Quarterly, and Television & New Media. Gates received her B.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, her M.A. in Humanities from the University of Chicago, and her Ph.D. in Screen Cultures from Northwestern University.