Dr. Blair L.M. Kelley is an author, historian, and scholar of the African American experience. Currently, Kelley is a Professor of Southern Studies at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and the director of the Center for the Study of the American South. She produced and hosted the podcast "Historical Blackness."Kelley's work has appeared in The Root, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Grio, and Ebony. Her first book, "Right to Ride: Streetcar Boycotts and African American Citizenship in the Era of Plessy v. Ferguson," was published in 2010. Her second book, "Black Folk: The Roots of the Black Working Class," was published in 2023.Kelley received her B.A. in History and African American Studies from the University of Virginia, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in History from Duke University.