The U.S. 2024 election may mark the beginning of a new political era, with right-wing populism gaining unexpected support from racial minorities, especially younger men. This shift contributed to the defeat of Vice President Kamala Harris, a Black/mixed race woman. The potential rise of a multicultural conservative populism challenges the political alignments and understandings of 20th-century Black politics, particularly those shaped by the Civil Rights Movement.

In March’s Balliol Online Lecture, Professor Kimberley Johnson will outline the contours of Black political development in the 20th century, with a focus on how urban politics became a critical platform for the realization and advancement of Black political power, while also emerging as an ‘urban blue wall’ for the Democratic party. The talk proposes new perspectives on how Black politics might evolve in a time of increased polarization, rising inequality, changing socio-spatial demographics, and institutional instability.

Professor Kimberley Johnson is Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis and Affiliate Faculty Member of the Wagner School of New York University.

Johnson’s research focuses on American and urban political development, urban and local politics, and race and ethnic politics. She is the author of two books, Reforming Jim Crow (2010) and Governing the American State (2007) and numerous articles on American political development and its intersection with racial and ethnic politics.

Professor Johnson’s current research projects focus on African American urban and suburban politics. She is completing a book manuscript, tentatively titled, Dark Concrete, exploring the development of black power urbanism in Newark and East Orange, New Jersey and Oakland and East Palo Alto, California.