Henry Louis Gates Jr.: A Voice for Black Studies and Literary Criticism Henry Louis Gates Jr., born in Harlem, New York City, in 1958, stands as a towering figure in contemporary African American studies and literary criticism. His intellectual journey began with undergraduate studies at Harvard University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in English Literature before pursuing doctoral research at Yale University, specializing in African American literature and culture. This formative education instilled within him a profound understanding of the complexities inherent in examining Black e…