About N'Kosi Oates

Dr. N'Kosi Oates is a curator and assistant professor. He earned his Ph.D. in the Department of Africana Studies from Brown University. His research engages African American culture, aesthetics, literature, and social history from Reconstruction to the 1980s. His work has been published in the National Review of Black Politics, Journal of Africana Religions, and Black Perspectives.

Dr. N'Kosi Oates is a curator and assistant professor. He earned his Ph.D. in Africana Studies from Brown University. Find him on Twitter at DrNKosiOates.

NBN Episodes hosted by N'Kosi:

Myisha Cherry, "Failures of Forgiveness: What We Get Wrong and How to Do Better" (Princeton UP, 2023)

March 15, 2024

Failures of Forgiveness

Myisha Cherry
Hosted by N'Kosi Oates

From religion to popular culture, institutions and people have shaped how we conceive forgiveness. Myisha Cherry, associate professor of philosophy, a…

Elizabeth Alexander, "The Trayvon Generation" (Grand Central, 2022)

June 13, 2022

The Trayvon Generation

Elizabeth Alexander
Hosted by N'Kosi Oates

The Trayvon Generation (Grand Central, 2022) expands upon Elizabeth Alexander’s gripping essay — under the same name — originally published in The New…

Caits Meissner, ed., "The Sentences That Create Us: Crafting a Writer's Life in Prison" (Haymarket Books, 2022)

April 14, 2022

The Sentences That Create Us

Caits Meissner
Hosted by N'Kosi Oates

The Sentences That Create Us: Crafting a Writer’s Life in Prison (Haymarket Books, 2022) is an expansive resource for incarcerated writers. With over …

Francesca Morgan, "A Nation of Descendants: Politics and the Practice of Genealogy in U.S. History" (UNC Press, 2021)

March 25, 2022

A Nation of Descendants

Francesca Morgan
Hosted by N'Kosi Oates

In A Nation of Descendants: Politics and the Practice of Genealogy in U.S. History (University of North Carolina Press, 2021), historian Francesca Mor…

Bryant Terry, "Black Food: Stories, Art, and Recipes from Across the African Diaspora" (4 Color Books, 2021)

December 13, 2021

Black Food

Bryant Terry
Hosted by N'Kosi Oates

James Beard and NAACP Image Award-winning chef and educator, Bryant Terry calls Black Food a “communal shrine to the shared culinary histories of the …

Clint Smith, "How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America" (Little, Brown and Company, 2021)

November 26, 2021

How the Word Is Passed

Clint Smith
Hosted by N'Kosi Oates

How do we narrate history, both the troubling past and what we chose to remember? Clint Smith sets out to wrestle with this question and its relations…

Farah Jasmine Griffin, "Read Until You Understand: The Profound Wisdom of Black Life and Literature" (Norton, 2021)

September 14, 2021

Read Until You Understand

Farah Jasmine Griffin
Hosted by N'Kosi Oates

Before Farah Jasmine Griffin’s father died, he wrote to her a note ending with a line “read until you understand.” He would die years later when she w…

Michael Twitty, "Rice: A Savor the South Cookbook" (UNC Press, 2021)

August 20, 2021

Rice

Michael Twitty
Hosted by N'Kosi Oates

Rice is a central ingredient to Southern foodways, and it is one of the most versatile grains served around the world. It could be prepared as a side …

Deborah Willis, "The Black Civil War Soldier: A Visual History of Conflict and Citizenship" (NYU Press, 2021)

July 21, 2021

The Black Civil War Soldier

Deborah Willis
Hosted by N'Kosi Oates

Photography emerged in the 1840s in the United States, and it became a visual medium that documents the harsh realities of enslavement. Similarly, the…

Timothy D. Walker, "Sailing to Freedom: Maritime Dimensions of the Underground Railroad" (U Massachusetts Press, 2021)

June 22, 2021

Sailing to Freedom

Timothy D. Walker
Hosted by N'Kosi Oates

More than 70 percent of the 103 pre-Emancipation slave narratives acknowledged using waterways as their method for escaping enslavement. However, much…