The Substance of Hope
William Jelani Cobb, Ph.D. is an associate professor of history at Spelman College in Atlanta. He specializes in post-Civil War African American history, twentieth-century American politics, and the history of the cold war. He is contributing writer for Essence magazine, and his essays and reviews have appeared in the Washington Post, the Progressive, Alternet.org, and other publications. He has been a featured commentator on NPR and CNN, in the acclaimed documentary Beyond Beats & Rhymes, and in other national outlets. He is the author of To the Break of Dawn: A Freestyle on the Hip Hop Aesthetic and The Devil & Dave Chappelle and Other Essays, and lives in Atlanta, Georgia.