[citation needed] Thomas joined the University of Michigan for doctoral research, where she studied discourse conflicts in schooling and society.
[2] After graduating, Thomas worked a teacher in the Detroit Public Schools Community District.
[3] She completed her research in the Pinnacle Classroom Discourse Study Group, a collective of teachers committed to ending the racial awarding gap.
Thomas was appointed to the advisory board of the Teaching Hard History project.
"[11]In 2022, the public criticisms of a Black actress playing the role of Ariel in the live-action retelling of The Little Mermaid prompted Thomas to remark that policing the inclusion of characters of color in adaptions of fictional narratives amounts to an "imagination gap".
[13] The book presents the concept of a "Dark Other" subjected to cycle of "spectacle, hesitation, violence, haunting, and emancipation," using Amandla Stenberg as Rue, Angel Coulby as Gwen, Kat Graham as Bonnie Bennett, and Noma Dumezweni as Hermione Granger as examples.