Blair Kelley and Martha Jones Discuss “Black Folk”

Historian Blair LM Kelley’s new book Black Folk: The Roots of the Black Working Class is a brilliant corrective to a national discourse which focuses on ‘white working class’ only and obscures the labor and very existence of entire groups of working people. Kelley traces her family’s 200-year history and in doing so describes the lives and impact of generations of Black laborers who laid the groundwork for better jobs, better pay, and equal rights. Kelley was joined in conversation by acclaimed historian Martha S. Jones.
Recorded July 26, 2023.