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{{short description|American scholar and author}}
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'''Russell John Rickford''' (born {{circa|1975}}<!-- listed as 28 years old in article written Feb 2004 --><ref name=Nakao>{{cite web |url=https://www.sfgate.com/living/article/Pride-and-prejudice-A-young-author-looks-back-2792483.php |title=Pride and prejudice / A young author looks back at the tragedy -- and triumph -- of Betty Shabazz's life |last=Nakao |first=Annie |date=February 22, 2004 |work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |access-date=November 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406084440/https://www.sfgate.com/living/article/Pride-and-prejudice-A-young-author-looks-back-2792483.php |archive-date=April 6, 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>) is an American scholar and activist who is an associate professor in the [[Cornell University Department of History|History Department]] at [[Cornell University]]. He has written the only in-depth biography on [[Betty Shabazz]]. Rickford's research focuses on the black radical tradition and on black liberal culture after [[World War II]]. He lectures on American social and political history, among other subjects.<ref name=Cornell>{{cite web |title=Russell Rickford {{!}} Department of History |url=
==Early life==
Born in [[Guyana]], Rickford grew up in [[Palo Alto, California]].<ref name=Nakao /> His mother, Angela E. Rickford, is a professor of [[Special Education]] at [[San Jose State University]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://
He went on to study [[journalism]] at [[Howard University]], where he also served as [[Alpha Phi Alpha]] president for two years and wrote for ''[[The Hilltop (newspaper)|The Hilltop]]''.<ref name=JohnRickford>{{cite web |url=http://aalbc.com/books/spoken_soul.htm |title=Why Spoken Soul means more to me than any book I've written |last=Rickford |first=John Russell |date=January 22, 2000 |publisher=[[AALBC.com]] |access-date=November 26, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231104085655/https://aalbc.com/books/spoken_soul.htm |archive-date=November 4, 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> Rickford earned his [[bachelor's degree]] ''[[magna cum laude]]'' in 1997.<ref name=Nakao/><ref name=JohnRickford/>
==Career==
Rickford started out as a reporter for ''[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]''<ref name=WJCobb>{{cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_UIEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA52 |title=Betty Shabazz: Uncovering the Woman Behind the Widow Veil |last=Cobb |first=William Jelani |author-link=Jelani Cobb |date=March–April 2004 |work=[[The Crisis]] |page=52 |access-date=November 26, 2016 }}</ref> and went on to work for a public-relations firm in Philadelphia.{{cn}}
===Early works===
In 1998, he began doing research for his biography on Betty Shabazz.<ref name=jouvay>{{cite web |url=http://www.jouvay.com/interviews/russelrickford.html |title=Russell Rickford |last=Trotz |first=Maya |date=January 2004 |publisher=Jouvay.com |access-date=November 14, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213205753/http://www.jouvay.com/interviews/russelrickford.html |archive-date=February 13, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
In 2000, Rickford and his father co-wrote ''Spoken Soul: The Story of Black English'', a book about African-American Vernacular English<ref name=SFE1>{{cite web |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DM&p_theme=dm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0ED8226258995030&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D |title=Father and son authors make case for acceptance of Ebonics |last=Wagner |first=Venise |date=April 30, 2000 |work=[[The San Francisco Examiner]] |access-date=November 26, 2011 }}{{dead link|date=November 2023}}</ref> which won the [[American Book Award]].<ref>{{cite web |author=American Booksellers Association |title=The American Book Awards / Before Columbus Foundation [1980–2012] |year=2013 |url=http://www.bookweb.org/btw/awards/The-American-Book-Awards---Before-Columbus-Foundation.html |publisher=BookWeb |quote='''''2000''''' [...] ''Spoken Soul: The Story of Black English, '''John Russell Rickford''' and '''Russell John Rickford''''' |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130313174235/http://bookweb.org/btw/awards/The-American-Book-Awards---Before-Columbus-Foundation.html |archive-date=March 13, 2013 |access-date=September 25, 2013}}</ref> The term "Spoken Soul" was coined by author [[Claude Brown]] in the 1960s and pays homage to the rhythmic, poetic qualities of African-American English.<ref name=SpokenSoul>{{cite book|author1=John R. Rickford|author2=Russell John Rickford|title=Spoken Soul: The Story of Black English|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gfULspb8h_EC&pg=PA240|access-date=November 26, 2011|year=2000|publisher=John Wiley and Sons|isbn=978-0-471-32356-3|page=ix}}</ref>
In 2001,<ref name=jouvay/> Rickford left his job in Philadelphia and moved into his parents' [[Garage (house)|garage]] to write the first, and to date only, in-depth biography of [[Betty Shabazz]].<ref name=Eymer/> An effort that spanned five and a half years, ''Betty Shabazz: A Remarkable Story of Survival and Faith Before and After Malcolm X'' was published in 2003.<ref name=jouvay/> Writing in ''[[The Crisis]]'', [[William Jelani Cobb]] called Rickford's work "a thorough, insightful and engaging book, befitting its enigmatic—and ultimately heroic—subject".<ref name=WJCobb/>
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