Desmond is a historian, academic, and organiser. He is currently a PhD candidate in history at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he teaches courses on political economy and decolonisation. His academic research is focused on the histories and theories of national liberation and pan-Africanism in Portuguese-colonised Africa and beyond. Desmond has edited several books on and by Amilcar Cabral with 1804 Books and has served as the editor-in-chief of Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies. He is also a member of the Amilcar Cabral Foundation in Praia, Cabo Verde, as well as UAW 4811, a union of academic workers at the University of California.