Race Rebels

Author and historian Robin D. G. Kelley is one of the most distinguished experts on African American studies and a celebrated professor who has lectured at some of America's highest learning institutions. He is currently professor of American studies and ethnicity at the University of Southern California. He is the author of Thelonious Monk: His Story, His Song, His Times and is best known for his books on African American culture: Race Rebels: Culture Politics and the Black Working Class, Yo' Mama's DisFunktional!: Fighting the Culture Wars in Urban America, and Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination. His career spans several esteemed universities, including serving as a professor of history and Africana at New York University as well as acting as chairman of NYU's History Department. While at NYU, Kelley was one of the youngest full professors in the country at thirty-two years of age. He was also the William B. Ransford Professor of Cultural and Historical Studies at Columbia and helped to shape programs at its Institute for Research in African American Studies. Kelley's work includes seven books as well as over 100 magazine articles, which have been featured in such publications as the New York Times, the New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, Code Magazine, Utne Reader, and African Studies Review.

L. Malaika Cooper is a writer, travel professional, and occasional comic. She is also an avid hiker and yogi and has traveled to more than thirty countries. A journalist by vocation, she has written for major publications. Her short stories have been published in various anthologies, and she is currently working on an urban fantasy trilogy. Cooper has performed improv and is studying dialect and voice acting. A Washington DC native, she presently lives in Houston, Texas.