There have been countless books, articles, and televised reports in recent years about the almost mythic working class. But that working class has been exclusively defined as white, obscuring the labor, and even the very existence of entire groups of working people, including everyday Black workers. Professor Kelley has mined the archive, oral histories, and her own family stories to explore the roots of the Black working class, to expand understandings of a broader past.

Exploring the jobs Black people held, from washerwomen to Pullman porters, and the organizing Black workers undertook, this webinar will help educators master the basic history of the Black working class in America, strategies to include this rich history in classroom instruction, and ways to think about expanding students’ understandings of race and class. By the end of this webinar, educators will be able to trace the development of the origins of Black working class, outline the limitations on Black employment, and the unique cultural legacy of the Black working class.