John Gillespie Jr. is an artist, songwriter, and PhD candidate in Comparative Literature at the University of California, Irvine. His research interests include: Black suicide as a problem for thought; continental philosophy and critical psychiatry; science and technology studies; and Black aesthetics. His writing has been published in places such as the Encyclopedia for Racism in American Film, Propter Nos, Critical Ethnic Studies, Catalyst, Machina and more. He is also the creator and writer of the Mumble Theory blog and is currently working on releasing an album under the same name.