She was a member of the Self-Realization Fellowship. My mother was a single parent whose politics were informed by her spiritual convictions.

RK: I grew up in New York, my young years right up in the Harlem/Washington Heights area. It was conducted and transcribed by Ben Holtzman.īH: Growing up, what was your introduction to politics and political engagement?

This interview took place on 21 April 2008 in New York City. Kelley is currently completing three books: a biography of Thelonious Monk, entitled Thelonious: A Life a survey of African American history, A World To Gain: A History of African Americans (co-authored with Tera Hunter and Earl Lewis), and Speaking in Tongues: Jazz and Modern Africa. His writings have also appeared in numerous scholarly and popular publications, including C olor Lines, Utne Reader, The Nation, Journal of American History, Monthly Review, New York Times, New Labor Forum, Jazz Times and Crisis Magazine. Kelley is the author of Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination Three Strikes: Miners, Musicians, Salesgirls, and the Fighting Spirit of Labor’s Last Century (with Dana Frank and Howard Zinn) Yo’ Mama’s Disfunktional!: Fighting the Culture Wars in Urban America Race Rebels: Culture, Politics, and the Black Working Class Into the Fire: African Americans Since 1970s We Changed the World: African Americans, 1945-1970 (with Vincent Harding and Earl Lewis) and Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists During the Great Depression. He is Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California, having previously taught at Columbia University, New York University, University of Michigan, Emory University, and Southeastern Massachusetts University. Kelley has long been considered one of the premiere scholars of African American history and culture.

Hammer and hoe kelley