Last night's fit check! Thrilled to give the keynote, "Black Education is Always a Radical Act" for the HBCU Fellowship Collective at the Atlanta University Center.

Also @profblmkelley.bsky.social covered this quite extensively in her book Black Folk

Zinn Education Project@zinnedproject.bsky.social · 3w ago

#tdih 1881, Atlanta washerwomen’s strike for higher pay, respect, & autonomy over their work. Listen to historian Tera Hunter on #SeizingFreedom (by @kidadaewilliams.com) about this Reconstruction era labor activism ⬇️. Learn from their organizing strategies. www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/at...

Thrilled to be in Ebony for their coverage of the 250! www.ebony.com/when-we-were...

Black Emancipation Day: A Legacy of Freedom & Dignity

Discover the rich history and profound significance of Black Emancipation Day celebrations, where faith, resilience, and culture united to reclaim freedom in a new book by Blair LM Kelley

ebony.com

This year’s Labor Notes conference made clear that workers’ responses to this moment of crisis are anything but passive: https://bit.ly/4egBw20

The Troublemakers of the Labor Movement Are Still Fighting–and Winning

The Labor Notes conference brought together workers fighting for a better world amidst the threats of AI, attacks on federal workers, and ICE’s terror campaign.

bit.ly

Glowing from my Black Freedom event at Kindred Stories in Houston. What a joy to talk Juneteenth, Emancipation Days, memory and struggle in Texas! Black Freedom chronicles the celebration of freedom that began well before the national holiday. Available everywhere books are sold!

Headed to Houston for an event at Kindred Books! Join us if you can!!!

Today SCOTUS allowing Alabama to press ahead with the use of a map that erases a majority Black congressional district makes clear clear that this Court has unashamedly set its course to dismantle the 14th Amendment brick-by-brick. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...

It's pub day! No better way to resist the erasure of Black history then to buy Black books! Available anywhere books are sold!

“.. The U.S. is now spending more on data center construction than on public transportation infrastructure, according to new Census Bureau figures out today.” @bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Black Freedom in Banff! Such a thrill to be a part of the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes convening this year, what a wonderful place to celebrate my publication date! June 2!!!

Awesome!!!! Thank you for buying it!

Elaine@uselaine.bsky.social · 2mo ago

YAY! With just a half hour to spare, the UPS driver delivered my pre-order of BLACK FREEDOM by @profblmkelley.bsky.social and it looks, and *feels*, beautiful. Enclosure says it has an on sale date of June 2nd at your favorite independent bookshop. 📚

A great day in Montgomery, AL as thousands gathered under the theme “All Roads Lead to the South” - a rally to mobilize awareness & action in opposition to southern states racial gerrymandering to dismantle majority Black congressional districts after the SCOTUS decision in Louisiana v Calláis.

I miss some of the corporations being here so that I could do things like tag United Airlines in this photo I took on the plane from SFO to Newark this morning! I don’t think this is supposed to happen!

Wow. The generation most exposed to the changes of AI has questions... we ought to be listening. Graduates Boo Commencement Speech About A.I. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/14/s...

Graduates Boo Commencement Speech About A.I.

nytimes.com

Next was "Black Folk" by @profblmkelley.bsky.social, who weaves together personal/family experiences, representative case studies, & broader sociological trends to deliver an essential book on emergence of the Black working class. Highly recommend Full review: bookwyrm.social/user/bwaber/... (3/4)

Black Folk

Named one of <em>Smithsonian</em>'s Best Books of 2023<p>2024 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Book Award</p><p>2024 Philip Taft Labor History Award&nbsp; </p><p>2024 Brooklyn Public Library Book Pr...

wwnorton.com

That same year (1867) after a Freedmen’s meeting in Charleston, SC, a group of African Americans decided to test their right to ride on Charleston Street Cars. Staged “ride-in.” #TeachReconstruction More ⬇️& in “Right to Ride” by @profblmkelley.bsky.social www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/st...

March 27, 1867: Staged Ride-ins in South Carolina Streetcars

Staged ride-ins during Reconstruction in South Carolina were among the first (recorded) organized protests of segregation on a streetcar.

zinnedproject.org

I didn't do TOO much this year, but I still did it. Love keeping my mother's tradition of lamb and ham on Easter alive. Not to mention the tradition of deviled eggs! Miss her and love keeping her spirit alive through my food. #blairiscooking

Check out the latest NYT op-ed @marthasjones.bsky.social (NHC Fellow, 2013–14) and historian Kate Masur cowrote this week discussing the historical context involved in Trump v. Barbara SCOTUS case.

Opinion | Trump Says Birthright Citizenship Was Only for the Children of Slaves. He’s Wrong.

nytimes.com

Excited to share that you can preorder Black Freedom at @barnesandnoble for 25% off when you sign up for their free rewards program and use code PREORDER25 at checkout! The offer ends on 3/26. www.barnesandnoble.com/w/black-free... #BNPreorder

#tdih 1970: 1st mass work stoppage in 195-year history of U.S. Postal Service began with letter carriers’ walkout in Brooklyn & Manhattan for better wages. Spread nationally. Read @profblmkelley.bsky.social’s ”Black Folk: The Roots of the Black Working Class” ⬇️ www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/po...

March 18, 1970: Postal Workers Strike

The first mass work stoppage in the 195-year history of the Postal Service began with a walkout of letter carriers in Brooklyn and Manhattan who were demanding better wages.

zinnedproject.org

Not ready to emerge into the “daylight” yet? Check out my super-sized 266th #ScholarSunday thread, chock-full o’ public scholarly writing, podcasts, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below, share as widely as possible, & enjoy, all! 🗃️ + blackwhiteandread.com/scholarsunda...

#ScholarSunday Thread 266 (3/8/26) – Black and White and Read All Over

Not ready to emerge into the "daylight" yet? Check out my super-sized 266th #ScholarSunday thread, chock-full o’ public scholarly writing, podcasts, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add mor...

blackwhiteandread.com

This past fall, @kathleenduval.bsky.social (NHC Fellow, 2008–09; 2025–26) sat down with NHC President and Director @profblmkelley.bsky.social to discuss DuVal’s 2024 book, "Native Nations: A Millennium in North America." Listen to their conversation now:

Kathleen DuVal and Blair LM Kelley Discuss “Native Nations: A Millennium in North America”

YouTube video by National Humanities Center

youtube.com

Thrilled to have an advance copy of Black Freedom in my hands! It was a pleasure to tell the stories of emancipation. It will be out June 2nd but available for preorder now!Preorders remind publishers that our history matters, even in this age of repression! www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/blair...

This Black History Month preorder Black books, a concrete way to resist erasure and tell publishing&booksellers we still value this work. #BHM My book Black Freedom is available for pre-order: www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/blair-lm-kelley-2/black-freedom/9780762486939/?lens=black-dog-leventhal

Black Freedom

The first fully illustrated history of Juneteenth and other Emancipation Day celebrations, told through photographs, art, and an engrossing narrative from an...

hachettebookgroup.com

Just in case you missed this amazing conversation I had with Kellie Carter Jackson about the intersection of family history and our historical work! reunion-a-podcast-about-family-histories.ghost.io/episode-003-...

Episode 003: Writing About Your Own Family’s History with Blair L.M. Kelley and Kellie Carter Jackson

In the red clay fields of Georgia, a man named Solicitor rose before dawn to tend the land he did not own. He was a sharecropper, a laborer, and a father. His name was passed down along with stories o...

reunion-a-podcast-about-family-histories.ghost.io

Finding my 3-times great grandfather, Henry Rucker, registering to vote in 1867 was life changing. He did so at great risk to life and livelihood, but he did it anyway. Honored to commemorate the day that those rights were Constitutionally enshrined, still sacred & paid for at great sacrifice.

Feb. 1, 1960, 4 NC A&T students sat-in at the “whites only” counter at Woolworths in Greensboro. Their defiance ignited a movement led to the birth of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Young people fuel movements. It is inspiring to see that today they still do. #BlackHistoryMonth

Thrilled to be your speaker for this year!

AFGE Local 17@afgelocal17.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Join us Jan 13 for a conversation on service and solidarity. ✊🏾 We welcome historian Dr. Blair Kelley @profblmkelley.bsky.social as guest speaker for our annual MLK Day Celebration. 🗓️ Tue, Jan 13 @ 12 PM ET 🔗 Details: afgelocal17.org/afge-local-1...

Just in case you missed this article about the erosion of the 14th and 15th Amendments during the holiday. Important reporting by @adamserwer.bsky.social

Adam Serwer@adamserwer.bsky.social · 8mo ago

The right, along the Roberts Court, is trying to nullify the Reconstruction amendments guaranteeing equality under the law, in order to restore the Antebellum Constitution, which envisions “liberty” as an eternal aristocracy of race and class (gift link) www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

I'm so sorry, keep speaking, keep fighting. I'm deeply convinced that most people who aren't directly affected are deeply unaware. We spent decades talking about the environment only to turn around and wreck unprecedented havoc.

Caroleeena@caroleeena.bsky.social · 8mo ago

We are fighting data centers in our little town and the big wigs just keep going around us. They tried to pass it under the table but people found out and turned out. We got it voted down. Then they took it to court saying we weren't allowed to speak. Now republican courts are undermining us. *sob*