Kellie Carter Jackson is the Michael and Denise ‘68 Associate Professor of Africana Studies at Wellesley College. Carter Jackson's research focuses on slavery and the abolitionists, violence as a political discourse, historical film, and black women’s history. She earned her B.A at her beloved Howard University and her Ph.D from Columbia University working with the esteemed historian Eric Foner. Her book, Force & Freedom: Black Abolitionists and the Politics of Violence (University of Pennsylvania Press), examines the conditions that led some black abolitionists to believe slavery might only be abolished by violent force. Force and Freedom was a finalist for the Frederick Douglass Book Prize, winner of the James H. Broussard Best First Book Prize given by SHEAR (Society for Historians of the Early American Republic) and a finalist for the Museum of African American History (MAAH) Stone Book Prize Award for 2019. The Washington Post listed Force and Freedom as one of 13 books to read on the history of Black America for those who really want to learn. Her interview, “A History of Violent Protest” on Slate’s What’s Next podcast was listed as one of the best of 2020. She has also given a Tedx talk on “Why Black Abolitionists Matter.”
Carter Jackson is also co-editor of Reconsidering Roots: Race, Politics, & Memory (Athens: University of Georgia Press). With a forward written by Henry Louis Gates Jr., Reconsidering Roots is the first scholarly collection of essays devoted entirely to understanding the remarkable tenacity of Alex Haley’s visual, cultural, and political influence on American history. Carter Jackson and Erica Ball have also edited a Special Issue on the 40th Anniversary of Roots for Transition Magazine (Issue 122}. Together, Ball and Carter Jackson have curated the largest collection essays dedicated to the history and impact of Roots. Carter Jackson was also featured in the History Channel's documentary, Roots: A History Revealed which was nominated for a NAACP Image Award in 2016.
Carter Jackson loves a good podcast! She is Executive Producer and Host of “You Get a Podcast! The Study of the Queen of Talk,” formerly known as “Oprahdemics” with co-host Leah Wright Rigueur and a co-host on the podcast, “This Day in Political Esoteric History” with Jody Avirgan and Nicole Hemmer. Her essays have been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Los Angeles Times, The Nation, The Boston Globe, NPR, The Guardian, NPR and a host of other outlets. She has also been interviewed for her expertise for Netflix, Good Morning America, CBS Mornings, MSNBC, SkyNews (UK) The New York Times, PBS, Time, Vox, The Huff Post, the BBC, Boston Public Radio, Al Jazeera International, Slate, and countless podcasts and documentaries to discuss race in America. For example, She was featured prominently in numerous documentaries such as Apple TV’s “Lincoln’s Dilemma,” MSNBC’s Documentary, “The Civil War: Or Who Do We Think We Are?” And, Netflix’s African Queens: Njinga.
Carter Jackson is a commissioner for the Massachusetts Historical Commission. She sits on the scholarly advisory board for the Gilder Lehrman Institute for American History. Carter Jackson is also Historian-in-Residence for the Museum of African American History in Boston.
She latest book, We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance (June, 2024, Basic Books) which is an expansion of an op-ed she wrote for the Atlantic in 2020, “The Double Standard of the American Riot.” We Refuse examines the multiple ways Black people have combated white supremacy from the Haitian Revolution to the present. Carter Jackson’s scholarship and public writings on violent political discourse have allowed her to play a role on the January 6th Select committee where she was asked by the U.S House of Representatives to provide a historical brief titled, “Understanding the Historical Context for White Supremacist Violence in America in Tandem with the Events of January 6, 2021.” Her next book project is entitled, Losing Laroche: The Story of the Only Black Passenger on the Titanic, which traces the story of Joseph Laroche and allows us to better understand the possibilities and limitations of black travel in the Titanic moment as well as our global love affair with whiteness and wealth.
Carter Jackson represented by the indefatigable Tanya McKinnon and her team at McKinnon Literary.
She currently resides outside of Boston with her husband and three children.