St. Clair Drake Memorial Lecture

This lecture titled The Half-Life of Freedom, Race and Justice in America Today will take place at the Stanford Memorial Church on November 7 at 5:30pm.

NOTE: Doors open at 5:00pm. With some exceptions, seating is not reserved.

About Jelani Cobb, Ph.D.:

Jelani is a staff writer at The New Yorker, writing on race, history, justice, politics, and democracy, as well as Columbia University’s Ira A. Lipman Professor of Journalism and Dean of Columbia Journalism School. He recently co-edited The Matter of Black Lives, a collection of The New Yorker’s most ground-breaking writing on Black history and culture in America, featuring the work of legendary writers like James Baldwin and Toni Morrison. Jelani also edited and wrote a new introduction for The Kerner Commission—a historic study of American racism and police violence originally published in 1967—helping to contextualize it for a new generation. The condensed version of the report, called The Essential Kerner Commission Report, is described as an “essential resource for understanding what Jelani calls the ‘chronic national predicament’ of racial unrest” (Publishers Weekly).

During a historic election, Jelani investigated allegations of voter fraud and disenfranchisement as a PSB Frontline correspondent in the documentary Whose Vote Counts, revealing how these unfounded claims entered the political mainstream. He clearly presents how racial inequities, COVID-19, and voter suppression became interlinked crises, contributing to a long legacy of inequality. For tackling one of the key issues at the heart of modern U.S. politics and carefully elucidating what the fight for voting rights looks like in the 21st century, Whose Vote Counts received a Peabody Award. Jelani was also the correspondent for the Frontline documentary Policing the Police, where he examined whether police reform is a viable solution in the wake of mounting protests calling for racial justice, and explored how we can hold police departments accountable. Previously, Jelani was prominently featured in Ava Duvernay’s 13th, her Oscar-nominated documentary about the current mass incarceration of Black Americans, which traces the subject to its historical origins in the Thirteenth Amendment. Jelani is the recipient of the Hillman Prize for opinion and analysis journalism, as well as the Walter Bernstein Award from the Writer’s Guild of America for his investigative work on Policing the Police. He is the author of Substance of Hope: Barack Obama and the Paradox of Progress, and To the Break of Dawn: A Freestyle on the Hip Hop Aesthetic. He is also a recipient of fellowships from the Ford Foundation, the Fulbright Foundation and the Shorenstein Center at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the American Journalism Project, and was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2023. He was appointed the Dean of Columbia Journalism School in 2022.

Location of Stanford Memorial Church (see map below):

Stanford Memorial Church is located at the center of the Main Quad on campus. If you are using Apple/Google maps to get to the closest parking, you can plug in 450 Jane Stanford Way, Stanford, CA 94305.

Visitor Parking:

The nearest Visitor Parking is located in the parking structure at the corner of Roth Street and Campus Drive. Paid visitor parking is enforced weekdays from 8am to 4pm You can pay for visitor parking through the ParkMobile app or website. Parking in this structure is free after 4pm.

You can also find parking along Roth Way and Museum Way, off Palm Drive. ‘A’ and ‘C’ parking in these lots is enforced Monday-Friday, 6am to 4pm. You are free to park in these areas after 4pm.

ADA Parking:

Parking for vehicles with disability placards is available along the Oval. Note: if you plan to park in ADA parking on the Oval before 6pm, you have to purchase a Stanford parking permit. There is also a very limited amount of disabled parking located behind MemChu via Duena Street (gate access code required). Contact the Diversity and Access Office at (650) 725-0326 for details.

For more information, visit Stanford’s Parking and Transportation Services website. Additional parking and walking time maps are available here: https://transportation.stanford.edu/maps-resources-access/map

We look forward to seeing you at 5:30pm on November 7, 2024 at Stanford Memorial Church.

St. Clair Drake Memorial Lecture:

The St. Clair Drake Memorial Lectures are dedicated to the memory of Professor St.Clair Drake, reowned African American anthropologist and educator, and the founding Director of the Program in African & African American Studies (AAAS) at Stanford University.

St. Clair Drake Memorial Lecture presented by the Department of African & African American Studies (DAAAS). Visit our website at aaas.stanford.edu for more information about the department.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Stanford Memorial Church, 450 Jane Stanford Way, Stanford, United States