4-Month Campaign
This book publicity case study outlines the work Coriolis Company performed for Professor Blair Kelley’s book, Black Folk: The Roots of the Black Working Class, published by Liveright on June 13, 2023. Black Folk stands as a pivotal interruption of the often-racist assumptions about Black workers in America.
Accolades
Recipient of the 2024 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Book Award
Winner of the 2024 Philip Taft Labor History Book Award
Finalist for the 2023 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in History
Longlisted for the 2024 Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize in Nonfiction
Events
April 17, 2023, Book Talk, in conversation with Erica Harper, hosted by Weeksville Heritage Center, Brooklyn, NY
July 23, 2023, Author Event, in conversation with Osarueme Osazee, hosted by Osas Virtual Book Club
July 26, 2023, Blair Kelley and Martha Jones Discuss ‘Black Folk’ hosted by Center for Brooklyn History
August 17, 2023, Torchlight Talks: Book Talk w/ Blair LM Kelley, hosted by Weeksville Heritage Center
July 23, 2024, RFKHR Book Club—Black Folk: The Roots of the Black Working Class by Blair LM Kelley, hosted by Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights (RFKHR) Book Club
Interviews
Estimated total reach: 15,387,610
June 19, 2023, “Celebrating America’s Black Working Class” with Tonya Mosley, Fresh Air
June 21, 2023, “Dr. Blair L.M. Kelley on ‘Tavis Smiley’”
June 22, 2023, “There is no America without Black Folk with Trymaine Lee,” MSNBC’s Into America
June 26, 2023, “PODCAST: Actor Teyonah Parris and Author Blair L.M. Kelley” with Ryanne Bennett, Black Girl Nerds
July 10, 2023, “Black Folk – Interview with Dr. Blair LM Kelley” with Gabe Christy and Young Sam James, Labor Jawn
July 10, 2023, “#242 – Roots of The Black Working Class: A Dialogue with Blair LM Kelley” with Xavier Bonilla, Converging Dialogues
July 24, 2023, “How the Solidarity of Black Workers Advanced Labor Rights for All” by Kelly Candaele Capital & Main
July 26, 2023, “The Rich History and Underestimated Political Clout of the Black Working Class” by Nia Evans, Mother Jones
July 31, 2023, “Pullman Porters & the History of the Black Working Class” with Kelly Therese Pollock, Unsung History
July 31, 2023, “Blair Kelley, Black Folk: The Roots of the Black Working Class, Liveright 2023” with Susan Liebell, New Books Network
August 1, 2023, “Blair LM Kelley on Black Folk: The Roots of the Black Working Class (Part 1)” with Niha Shahzad and Vishala Shembedasie, IDEAA-nomics (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, Anti-Racism) Podcast
August 8, 2023, “Blair LM Kelley on Black Folk: The Roots of the Black Working Class (Part 2)” with Niha Shahzad and Vishala Shembedasie, IDEAA-nomics (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, Anti-Racism) Podcast
August 31, 2023, ‘Black Folk’ Centers History and Activist Legacy of Black Working Class with Mina Kim, KQED’s Forum
September 5, 2023, The Skill and Resistance of Black Workers from Slavery to Today w/ Professor Blair LM Kelley – TVLR 9/2/23 with Jacob Morrison, The Valley Labor Report
September 12, 2023, Black Folk: The Roots of the Black Working Class w/ Blair Kelley with Omkari Williams, Stepping Into Truth: Conversations on Social Justice and How We Get Free
September 14, 2023 “The African American Experience with Dr. Blair L.M. Kelley” with Dr. Karen Bryson, The Curious Professor
Reviews
Estimated total reach: 928,766
July 4, 2023, “Black Folk: The Roots Of The Black Working Class By Blair LM Kelley”, The Times Weekly
July 5, 2023, “BOOK REVIEW: ‘Black Folk: The Roots of the Black Working Class’ by Blair LM Kelley” by Terri Schlichenmeyer, The Washington Informer
July 12, 2023, “A New Book Reexamines the Mythos Around America’s Working Class—And Recognizes the Long Struggle of the Black Community for Fair Working Conditions” by Thomasi McDonald, INDY Week
Op-Eds and Features
Estimated total reach: 11,033,199
June 5, 2023, “Summer books: 40 new titles to make vacations more fun,“ St. Louis Post-Dispatch
June 23, 2023, Newly Published, From Susan Sontag to the Black Working Class,“ The New York Times
Book Publicity Assets
Coriolis also provided 252 visual book marketing assets to be used in marketing the book, on Professor Blair Kelley’s website and on her social media. These consisted of 229 graphics and 23 video assets.
*This post was last updated on November 11, 2023.
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