Keisha N. Blain
MSNBC Columnist
Keisha N. Blain is an award-winning historian and writer. She is a professor of Africana studies and history at Brown University and has written extensively about race, gender and politics in national and global perspectives. Her most recent book is “Until I Am Free: Fannie Lou Hamer’s Enduring Message to America.”
Keisha N. Blain is an award-winning historian and writer. She is a professor of Africana studies and history at Brown University and has written extensively about race, gender and politics in national and global perspectives. Her most recent book is “Until I Am Free: Fannie Lou Hamer’s Enduring Message to America.”
Latest from Keisha N. Blain
From the very beginning, Black women have fought for American democracy
As the most subordinate group within racial and gender hierarchies, Black women, like Hamer, have understood what it means to live without full citizenship and human rights.
What Jonathan Majors got wrong about Coretta Scott King’s legacy
To reduce Coretta Scott King to a shorthand for a supportive partner is to ignore that she was a leader in her own right who influenced Martin Luther King Jr.
The U.S. is falling on the inclusivity scale. There’s no mystery why.
The Othering and Belonging Institute released its Inclusiveness Index, and it shows that the United States is falling among 129 nations studied.
Getting indicted by Fani Willis must be sending Donald Trump through the roof
Georgia DA Fani Willis has been clear that Donald Trump's status as a former president means nothing. Her indictment proves she won't be intimidated by him.
Florida pushes its students to think more positively about slavery
According to Florida's new guidelines, instructors will be expected to teach that enslaved people “developed skills” that “could be applied for their personal benefit.”
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is one of the sharpest thinkers of our time
Justice Kentanji Brown Jackson dissent in last week’s affirmative action decision is proof President Biden was right to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court.
There's no better time than Juneteenth to demand reparations for African Americans
Juneteenth was made a federal holiday in 2021 when President Joe Biden signed the legislation into law. It commemorates the end of legalized slavery in the U.S.
Why 'The Woman King' is a story that Americans need to see
Viola Davis' "The Woman King" is no fairy tale. It highlights African history few Americans know about.
Some think a movie about Emmett Till is unnecessary. Here's why they're wrong.
Emmett Till's lynching death was a major catalyst for the civil rights movement.
Whitewashing slavery isn't education; it's propaganda
The brutality of slavery is well documented in the historical record.
Juneteenth shouldn't be about Black people spending but about Black people getting paid
Juneteenth should cause us to think about how little wealth Black Americans have accrued.
