Blair Kelley — Black Folk Book Publicity Case Study

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.

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

Named one of Amazon’s Top History Books of 2023

Named one of Smithsonian‘s Best Books of 2023

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

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

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

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