Derrick Darby

Derrick Darby is Henry Rutgers Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick. He holds a BA from Colgate University and a PhD from the University of Pittsburgh. He discovered his passion for philosophy growing up in the Queensbridge public housing projects in New York City. For the backstory see his TEDx talk, “Doing the Knowledge.” He writes about rights, inequality, and democracy. His books include: Hip Hop and Philosophy: Rhyme to Reason (Open Court, 2005) coedited with Tommie Shelby; Rights, Race, and Recognition (Cambridge UP, 2009); and The Color of Mind: Why the Origins of the Achievement Gap Matter for Justice, co-authored with historian John L. Rury (Chicago, 2018). His scholarship has been funded by the Spencer Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the American Council of Learned Societies. His current projects include books on black radical thought and institutional racism with political scientist Christian Davenport, and, with Eduardo Martinez, a book on identity politics. Darby is a co-host of A Pod Called Quest.