John McWhorter

MasterClass will make its ‘Black History, Black Freedom, and Black Love’ course—led by intellectuals like Angela Davis, Nikole Hannah-Jones and Cornel West—free for streaming during Black History Month.

From John McWhorter at The New Republic: Barack Obama’s inaugural address was the first in a long time to resound powerfully enough to be worthy of marble. However, it was the first in the 220-year history of the custom in another way: its seasoning of black cadence. This was even more exhilarating in that the […]

Unpacking the immediate results of Barack Obama’s landslide victory is complicated work. A wave of jubilation has swept much of the nation; for the first time in my life, Americans spontaneously took to the streets to celebrate something other than a sports championship.

When John McWhorter landed a summer 2008 release date for his book All About the Beat: Why Hip-Hop Can’t Save Black America, those working behind the scenes to get it published correctly anticipated two variables that would give the book an edge: grassroots hip-hop organizers would be in full force this election season, and big […]

The recent uproar over the Ludacris pro-Obama rap song revealed once again that we are a nation willing to consume and enjoy hip-hop music, even as we refuse to understand hip-hop culture. The question “where does hip-hop end and Black culture begin?” would be a great start.