Professor William Jelani Cobb

Professor William Jelani Cobb was born in and raised in Queens, New York. He gained his education at Jamaica High School, Howard University in Washington, D.C. After going through his college degree he gained his doctorate in American History under the Teachings of Dr. David Levering Lewis at Rutgers University.  In his life time he wrote many reviews and essays that have appeared in The Washington post, The Progressive, ONE Magazine, and Emerge. He was a featured commentator on National Public Radio and also some other national broadcast outlets.  At the present time Cobb is a Professor of history at the Spelman College. Some of the subjects that he specializes his teaching in are post- Civil War African American history, 20^th Century American politics and the history of the cold War. Professor Cobb is a fiction Writer, author of the books To The break of Dawn: freestyle on the Hip Hop Aesthetic and also The Devil & Dave Chappelle and Other Essays the Essential. He was the editor of The Essential Harold Cruse which was a book that was listed, as a 2002 notable book of the year by Black Issues Book Review. When Professor Cobb writes most of his books he relates them to many truths that are untold. He talks a lot about the many problems that are happening in society today. His books The Devil & Dace Chappelle for example he takes the black experience from the past ten years and by using cinema, music, politics, literature and pop culture. He talks about where the black society was and the many that we need to do to get further in life. When I was reading his book The Devil & Dave Chappelle, he use real life stories and applies them to life as a way that shows how slavery is still a part of everyday life. He just breaks down things that have been going on in the world and the meaning behind these stories.   

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