Education
As a long-time advocate and supporter of cultural diversity and equity issues in the nation’s public cultural and educational institutions, Mr. Early began these pursuits at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1969, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish. In 1971, Early entered the Graduate Studies program at Howard University on a Ford Foundation Fellowship to pursue a Ph.D. in Latin American and Caribbean History and a minor in African and Afro-American History.
Employment
During his years as a student, Early worked a number of jobs that helped to shape his career. At the Martin Luther King Center, he worked in the archives and then from 1970 to 1971 as an administrative and research assistant to the director of the Institute of the Black World. In 1973, he went to work at the Smithsonian Institute as a folklore consultant and researcher. In 1976, he became an associate professor at Antioch College in Washington, D.C., and worked at Howard University's Institute for the Arts and Humanities.
In 1978, Early became the producer, writer and host of Ten Minutes Left, a weekly radio show on WHUR-FM. He hosted this program for five years while working at the National Endowment for the Humanities as the humanist administrator.
Since 1984, Early has held several positions within the Smithsonian Institution, including Director of Cultural Studies and Communication at the Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies, Assistant Provost for Educational and Cultural Programs, Assistant Secretary for Education and Public Service, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Service, and Executive Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for Public Service.
Organizations
Active in many organizations, Early served on the founding steering committee of the International Network for Cultural Diversity and was the humanities coordinator of the Trans- Africa Afro Americans and Cuba Cultural Conversation Project in 2000. He has served on the board of directors of the Children's Studio School since 1993, and since 1995 on the National Black Program Consortium, a program that funds independent black filmmakers. He writes on the politics of culture, lectures internationally and works with those in prison. Early is fluent in Spanish, can converse in Portuguese, reads French and has some knowledge of Mandarin Chinese.