Elizabeth Hinton was born in 1983, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Hinton earned her PhD in United States history from Columbia University in 2013. She is currently a professor at Yale University who specializes in African American studies, history and law. Prior to her time at Yale, she taught at Harvard University and spent two years as a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Michigan, in both cases focusing her work on African American studies.

Her writings primarily focus on issues of poverty, racial inequality, police reform, and incarceration. She has published multiple op-eds and articles in a variety of periodicals, such as The American Historical Review, The Journal of Urban History, and The New York Times, among many others. Her first award-winning book, From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime (2016), explores the history of federal policies, such as those of the Johnson Administration, which led to an increase in policing in impoverished communities and expanded America’s prison system.

In addition to her historical research, Hinton has also been a vocal advocate for justice system reform and funding for social programs to address ongoing issues of systemic racism and poverty. Hinton has called for a reevaluation of 1960s-era policies regarding Black rebellions: Although America on Fire presents a factual and well-researched look at the history of Black

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