Dr. Nimrod Malik Shabazz, who also writes under the pen name D. Tyler Davis, is an eighth-grade Social Studies teacher, author, and spoken-word poet dedicated to preserving and illuminating Black history through storytelling. He writes narrative history under D. Tyler Davis in the Black History for Beginners series and historical fiction under his legal name through the Urban Tales for Beginners series.

 

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, with deep roots in Arkansas, Dr. Shabazz comes from a legacy of resilience and education. His father, raised as a farmer, and his mother, raised as a sharecropper, both became educators. Dr. Shabazz is proud to be a third-generation teacher. The first was his grandmother on his father’s side.

 

Dr. Shabazz holds a doctor of education in Educational Leadership from Saint Louis University, a master’s in Urban Education from Langston University, and a bachelor of arts in Political Science from the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff. The latter two universities—both HBCUs—helped to shape his cultural and academic worldview. Through his work in classrooms and through his writings, Dr. Shabazz remains committed to culturally grounded, community-rooted, and historically rich storytelling.