Historian, Author, Educator, Speaker

Kellie Carter Jackson is the Michael and Denise ‘68 Associate Professor of Africana Studies and the Chair of the Africana Studies Department Wellesley College. She is the author award winning We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance (Seal Press). We Refuse won the Darlene Clark Hine Award for the Best Book on African American Women’s History given by the Organization of American Historians. It was also listed as Ms. Magazine’s Favorite Books of the Year, the Smithsonian’s Best History Books of the Year, a New York Times Editor’s Book Choice, Essence’s Top 15 Book Picks for Summer, and received starred reviews from both Kirkus and Publisher’s Weekly, among other accolades.

Her award winning book, Force & Freedom: Black Abolitionists and the Politics of Violence . Force and Freedom was a finalist for the Frederick Douglass Book Prize, a winner of the James H. Broussard Best First Book Prize, 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 African American history. 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 also wrote and narrated and eight episode series for Audible Originals on “The History of Abolitionist Movement.”

Her essays have been published in The New York Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Guardian, The Los Angeles Times, The Nation, the Boston Globe, CNN, and a host of other outlets. She has been featured in numerous documentaries for Netflix (African Queens: Njinga and Stamped From the Beginning), PBS, MSNBC, CNN, and AppleTV’s “Lincoln’s Dilemma.” She has also been interviewed on Good Morning America, CBS Mornings, MSNBC, Democracy Now, SkyNews (UK) Time, Vox, The Huff Post, the BBC, Boston Public Radio, Al Jazeera International, Slate, and countless podcasts.

Carter Jackson loves a good podcast and her Radiotopia family! She is Executive Producer and Host of the award winning “You Get a Podcast! The Study of the Queen of Talk,” formerly known as “Oprahdemics” with co-host Leah Wright. You Get a Podcast was featured at the Tribeca Film Festival and listed in the Oprah Daily as one of the Most Promising Podcasts of 2022.

She is a co-host on the podcast, “This Day” (A History Show)” with Jody Avirgan and Nicole Hemmer.

Carter Jackson served as a Historian-in-Residence for the Museum of African American History in Boston from 2021-2024 and is commissioner for the Massachusetts Historical Commission. Her next book projects examine the unlearned lessons of Reconstruction, tentatively titled, “We’ve Been Here Before” and a longer project on Joseph Laroche, the only Black passenger on the Titanic.

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.