Keisha N. Blain

Keisha N. Blain, an award-winning historian, author, and Professor of Africana Studies and History at Brown University, earned her Ph.D. in History from Princeton University in 2014. Following her doctoral studies, she commenced postdoctoral research at Pennsylvania State University’s Africana Research Center.

Her 2018 book, ‘Set the World on Fire: Black Nationalist Women and the Global Struggle for Freedom,’ garnered significant acclaim, receiving the 2018 First Book Award from the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians and the 2019 Darlene Clark Hine Award from the Organization of American Historians. Her 2021 work, ‘Until I Am Free: Fannie Lou Hamer’s Enduring Message to America,’ was nominated for an NAACP Image Award in 2022 and was a finalist for the 2022 National Book Critics Circle Award. Additionally in 2021, she co-edited ‘Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019′ with Ibram X. Kendi, which debuted at #1 on the New York Times Best Sellers’ list and was a finalist for the 2022 Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction.

Looking ahead, Blain’s upcoming book, ‘Without Fear: Black Women and the Making of Human Rights,’ is scheduled for publication in September 2025 by W.W. Norton, promising a comprehensive history through the lens of Black women’s contributions. In 2025, she was also elected to the esteemed Society of American Historians and appointed editor-in-chief of Global Black Thought, an academic journal published by the University of Pennsylvania Press, solidifying her influence in shaping contemporary historical discourse.