Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor is an associate professor of African-American Studies at Princeton University and the author of multiple books, including most recently How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective, which traces the origins of the term “identity politics” back to its very first use.“Since 1977,” she writes, “that term has been used, abused, and reconfigured into something foreign to its creators.” Taylor’s intellectual history is driven by more than curiosity: it’s part of a larger vision that views racism and our contemporary economic system as inextricably linked.This is a conversation full of tough questions. What constitutes identity politics? When is it inclusive, and when is it exclusive? Is racism a function of capitalism or is it constant across economic systems? How did Barack Obama’s presidency lead to Donald Trump’s? What can stop future Democrats from running into the very same institutional strongholds that plagued Obama?Book recommendations: Black Reconstruction by W.E.B DuBois Selected poems of John Wieners Women, Race and Class by Angela Davis *******************************************************Want to contact the show? Reach out at ezrakleinshow@vox.comNews comes at you fast. Join us at the end of your day to understand it. Subscribe to Today, Explained: http://bit.ly/todayexplained Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Professor and author Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor joins Briahna for a conversation about solidarity, intersectionality, and how both concepts are important parts of building a political coalition. How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective on Haymarket Books: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1108-how-we-get-free "Solidarity Forever" by Hollow Sidewalks licensed under CC BY 3.0.

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, the author of "From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation" joins the hosts, Rania Khalek and Kevin Gosztola, to talk about her book. She talks about the Congressional Black Caucus, solidarity in the Black Lives Matter movement, poverty among Black Americans, and the Democratic Party and what kind of obstacle it presents to Black liberation, and more.