Latest News

Opinion: How to Fix College Admissions Now (New York Times, 7/5/23)

Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality (Pantheon Press, 2022) 

  • Citations: Best Books of 2022 by the New Yorker, Best 100 Books of 2022 by Time; Best History Books of 2022 by Smithsonian Magazine
  • Finalist: Los Angeles Times Book Award, Biography category; PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography; Museum of African American History Stone Book Award
  • Longlisted: Biographers International Plutarch Award

Harvard Gazette | Convocation Address, “Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery: Bondage and Resistance,” Harvard Divinity School, Sept. 1, 2022

wbur | Here & Now | Harvard confronts lucrative and painful legacy of slavery
April 27, 2022

PBS News Hour | Harvard University details its ties to slavery and promises a reckoning
April 27, 2022

Washington Post | Here is a hard historical truth: Slavery powerfully shaped Harvard (Opinion)
April 26, 2022

NPR | Connecticut Public: Constance Baker Motley is a civil rights icon. Why don’t more people know her name?
April 20, 2022

The Graduate School, Duke University | Legal Scholar and Historian Brown-Nagin Receives 2022 Distinguished Alumni Award
April 14, 2022

The Takeaway | The Life and Legacy of Constance Baker Motley
April 8, 2022

CNN | Interview on At This Hour with Kate Bolduan
April 8, 2022

CNN | Ketanji Brown Jackson is the beginning, not the end, of this story (Opinion)
April 6, 2022

Queens Daily Eagle | An evening with Tomiko Brown-Nagin and reflecting on Hon. Constance Baker Motley
April 6, 2022

Los Angeles Times | Why Ketanji Brown Jackson and Kamala Harris idolize civil rights lawyers like Constance Baker Motley
April 4, 2022

Oprah Daily | Constance Baker Motley, Civil Rights Queen, Paved the Way for Ketanji Brown Jackson
April 1, 2022

That Said With Michael Zeldin | A Conversation with Harvard Professor Tomiko Brown-Nagin, Author, “Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality”
March 2022

The Washington Post | Republican senators used racially coded language to question Ketanji Brown Jackson. There’s history to that
March 29, 2022

New York Law Journal | Shining a Light on a Legal Trailblazer (Review)
March 29, 2022

WNYC | All Of It Hosted by Alison Stewart: Full Bio: The Early Life of Constance Baker Motley
March 28, 2022

PBS Amanpour & Co. | Tomiko Brown-Nagin: SCOTUS Hearings “Sad and Disappointing”
March 25, 2022

CNN | Interview with Victor Blackwell during Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirming hearing
March 23, 2022

NPR | Morning Edition: Examining 2 days of Senate confirmation hearings for Biden’s Supreme Court nominee
March 23, 2022

NBC News Now | Interview with Lester Holt/Savannah Guthrie and Morgan Radford/ Morgan Radford during Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirming hearing
March 22, 2022

POLITICO | 12 Questions That Would Actually Tell Us Something About Ketanji Brown Jackson
March 22, 2022

CNN | Interview with Kate Bolduan during Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirming hearing
March 21, 2022

MSNBC | Interview with José Díaz-Balart about Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson
March 21, 2022

Slate | The Right to Counsel Shouldn’t Be Controversial: Ketanji Brown Jackson’s past is an asset, not a liability (Opinion)
March 21, 2022

The New Yorker | Briefly Noted: “The Books of Jacob,” “Defenestrate,” “Civil Rights Queen,” and “The Naked Don’t Fear the Water” (Review)
March 21, 2022

Today Show | 5 books to read this March, according to bestselling author Jasmine Guillory
March 1, 2022

Smithsonian Magazine | Constance Baker Motley Taught the Nation How to Win Justice
March 2022

Democracy Now | In the Footsteps of Constance Motley Brown, Supreme Court Pick Ketanji Brown Jackson Makes History
February 28, 2022

Bloomberg Law | Jackson’s Selection Parallels First Black Woman U.S. Judge
February 28, 2022

CNN | Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination is about more than symbolism — it’s about change
February 27, 2022

Washington Post | A Black lawyer who dismantled barriers, for herself and many others (Review)
February 25, 2022

Politico | This Black Woman Could Have Served on the Supreme Court Decades Ago. She Has Some Lessons for Ketanji Brown Jackson (Opinion)
February 25, 2022

ABC’s WCVB Channel 5 | The Chronicle: New appreciation for historic contributions of sculptor Meta Warrick Fuller and civil rights attorney Constance Baker Motley
February 25, 2022

NBC | News NOW Interview with Alison Morris
February 25, 2022

Politico | Twitter Space: Ketanji Brown Jackson SCOTUS Nomination
February 25, 2022

NPR | All Things Considered: Biden picks Ketanji Brown Jackson as Supreme Court nominee
February 25, 2022

CNN | Interview on At This Hour with Kate Bolduan
February 25, 2022

MSNBC | Interview on José Díaz-Balart Reports
February 25, 2022

TIME | The History Behind the First Black Woman Supreme Court Justice Nominee
February 25, 2022

USA Today | For Black women judges like Jackson, blazing a trail has meant opportunity, scrutiny
February 25, 2022

Connecticut Post | Connecticut and Constance Baker Motley, civil rights giant (Opinion)
February 24, 2022

PBS | ‘Civil Rights Queen’ examines the legacy of Constance Baker Motley
February 17, 2022

NPR | Fresh Air: Often overlooked, civil rights advocate Constance Baker Motley gets her due
February 16, 2022

NPR | All Things Considered: In Supreme Court nomination debate, echoes of past judicial breakthrough
February 16, 2022

The Special Report with Areva Martin | One-on-One with Tomiko Brown-Nagin
February 15, 2022

WABE | Closer Look: Atlanta Professors Discuss The One-Drop Rule; New Book Explores The Life Of Constance Baker Motley
February 14, 2022

NPR | In Supreme Court Nomination Debate, Echoes of Past Judicial Breakthrough
February 10, 2022

Washington Post Live | Race in America: History Matters with Tomiko Brown-Nagin
February 10, 2022

NPR | A Black woman on the High Court is a good start. But representation has limits
February 9, 2022

NPR | All Things Considered: Black women in the legal profession reflect on how long it’s taken to get this far
February 7, 2022

American Law Institute | Member News: ‘Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality’
February 4, 2022

NPR | Code Switch: The life of a ‘Civil Rights Queen’
February 3, 2022

NPR | Code Switch: The ‘double-edged sword’ of being a Black first
February 2, 2022

BookPage | Starred Review of Civil Rights Queen
February 2022

Harvard Gazette | Charting the path of a ‘Civil Rights Queen’
January 31, 2022

CNN | Interview on At This Hour with Kate Bolduan
January 27, 2022

CNN | This Black woman judge laid the groundwork for those who would follow
January 27, 2022

MSNBC | Interview on José Díaz-Balart Reports
January 27, 2022

Slate | What Conservatives Really Mean When They Say Biden’s Potential SCOTUS Nominees Are “Unqualified”
January 27, 2022

New York Times | Biden Expected to Nominate a Black Woman to the Supreme Court
January 26, 2022

New York Times | Book of the Times: ‘Civil Rights Queen,’ the Story of a Brave and Brilliant Trailblazer (Review)
January 26, 2022

Literary Hub | On the Pioneering Black Female Lawyer Who Took Racism to Court
January 26, 2022

New York Journal of Books | Review of Civil Rights Queen
January 25, 2022

Book Riot | New Releases Tuesday: The Best Books Out this Week (Review)
January 25, 2022

Essence | New Year, New Books: From compelling memoirs to a treatise on Black joy, these books set the tone for 2022
January/February 2022

Publishers Weekly | Starred Review: PW Picks: Books of the Week, January 24, 2022
January 21, 2022

Furman University | Furman in the News: “Both Sides Now”
January 20, 2022

The Appalachian | The Bookstop: Most anticipated books of 2022
January 17, 2022

New York Times | Newly Published, From Virtual Worlds to a History of Clothing
January 14, 2022

Harvard Gazette | Rescuing MLK and his Children’s Crusade
January 13, 2022

Harvard Magazine | Both Sides Now: Tomiko Brown-Nagin’s bifocal view of the civil-rights movement
January/February 2022

Essence | 56 New Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2022
January 5, 2022

Kirkus | Starred Review: An excellent exploration of the life of an admirable pioneer who deserves to be far better known
December 24, 2021

Library Journal | Review of Civil Rights Queen
December 1, 2021

Booklist | Starred Review of Civil Rights Queen
December 1, 2021

More Media & Commentary

Interview, “What 2021 taught us about the fight for racial justice,” CNN, December 16, 2021

Interview, “Floyd’s Death Leads to Disinformation About Black Lives Matter Movement,” NPR, May25, 2021

Quoted in Tom McCarthy, “‘It would be glorious’: hopes high for Biden to nominate first Black woman to supreme court,” The Guardian, April 20, 2021 

Quoted in Dasia Moore, “Diversity expanding within the growing Black American population, new data show,” The Boston Globe, March 25, 2021

Quoted in Deirdre Fernandes, “Harvard is studying its ties to slavery, but is that enough?,” The Boston Globe, March 21, 2021

Quoted in Dasia Moore, “Unity without justice is dangerous, historians say. Just look at the Civil War,” The Boston Globe, January 16, 2021

Interview, “After a hard election, the real work begins,” Harvard Gazette, November 8, 2020

Interview, “Hard lessons from a tough election,” Harvard Gazette, November 5, 2020

Quoted in Dasia Moore and Deanna Pan, “In a close election, some Black Americans see a clear winner: Racism,” The Boston Globe, November 4, 2020

Interview, “Initiative on legacy of slavery at Harvard picks up steam,” Harvard Gazette, October 15, 2020

On-Camera Interview, Amy Coney Barrett’s Potential Impact on the Supreme Court, Bloomberg News, October 12, 2020

Quoted in Brett Milano, “Exploring the North’s long history of slavery, scientific racism,” Harvard Gazette, October 9, 2020

Quoted in, “How Amy Coney Barrett Would Reshape the Court–And the Country,” Politico Magazine, September 26, 2020

On-Camera Interview, “Supreme Court Fight and Schools Check-in,” NPR/KQED, September 25, 2020

Quoted in Brett Milano, “‘It’s hard to imagine a more consequential life’,” Harvard Law Today, September 25, 2020

Quoted in Deanna Pan and Dasia Moore, “A New Survey Says White Support for Black Lives Matter Has Slipped. Some Historians Say They’re Not Surprised,” The Boston Globe, September 24, 2020

Quoted in Laura Crimaldi, “Harvard Law School honors Ginsburg,” The Boston Globe, September 24, 2020

Quoted in, “‘The Most Important Woman Lawyer in the History of the Republic’,” Politico Magazine, September 18, 2020

Op-Ed, “Equal justice requires lawmakers reform qualified immunity for police,” The Boston Globe, August 13, 2020

Quoted in Dasia Moore, “Amid renewed calls for racial justice, how meaningful is symbolic change?,” The Boston Globe, July 18, 2020

Quoted in Travis Andersen, “Legal experts say Supreme Court ruling on Trump financial records will have far-reaching effect,” The Boston Globe, July 9, 2020 

Quoted in Colleen Walsh, “A look at Radcliffe past and present,” Harvard Gazette, June 1, 2020

Interview, “Brown-Nagin on Her Own Path and Radcliffe’s,” Harvard Gazette, November 13, 2019

Interview, “Centered on Civil Rights: Tomiko Brown-Nagin,” Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University, September 19, 2018

Interview, “Tomiko Brown-Nagin named dean of Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study,” Harvard Gazette, April 26, 2018

On-Air Interview, “A Moment Or A Movement? What’s Next For March For Our Lives,” NPR/WGBH News, Maggie Penman, March 27, 2018