William Jelani Cobb Ph.D. (born 1977) is an American author and educator, associate Professor of History and Africana Studies at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
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Born and raised in Queens, NY, Cobb was educated at Jamaica High School, New York City, Howard University in Washington, D.C., and Rutgers University, where in May 2003 he received a doctorate in American history under the supervision of David Levering Lewis. He is a recipient of fellowships from the Fulbright and Ford Foundations.
Cobb specializes in post-Civil War African American history, 20th century American politics, and the history of the Cold War. He served as a delegate and historian for the 5th Congressional District of Georgia at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. He resides in Atlanta, Ga.
Cobb's books include "The Substance of Hope: Barack Obama and the Paradox of Progress" (Walker, 2010), To the Break of Dawn: A Freestyle on the Hip Hop Aesthetic (2007), which in 2007 was a finalist for the National Award for Arts Writing of the Arts Club of Washington.[1] His collection The Devil & Dave Chappelle and Other Essays[2] was published the same year. He is editor of The Essential Harold Cruse: A Reader, which was listed as a 2002 Notable Book of The Year by Black Issues Book Review. He has contributed to a number of anthologies, including In Defense of Mumia, Testimony, Mending the World and Beats, Rhymes and Life, and his articles and essays have appeared in The Washington Post, Essence, Vibe, Emerge, The Progressive, The Washington City Paper, One Magazine, Ebony and TheRoot.com. He has also been a featured commentator on National Public Radio, CNN, Al-Jazeera, CBS News, and other national broadcast outlets.
Cobb has two forthcoming books including a scholarly monograph titled Antidote to Revolution: African American Anticommunism and the Struggle for Civil Rights, 1931-1957.
