Academic Historian

Malik Simba received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Minnesota. He has held professorships in the departments of history at State University of New York at Binghamton and Clarion University in Pennsylvania. Presently, he is a senior professor and past chair of the History Department (2000-2003) at California State University-Fresno in California. Dr. Simba was awarded fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1979, 1987, and 1990. He serves on the Board of the Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program at California State University-Fresno.

Dr. Simba is the author of Black Marxism and American Constitutionalism: From the Colonial Background through the Ascendancy of Barack Obama and the Dilemma of Black Lives Matter (4th edition, 2019). He has contributed numerous entries in the Encyclopedia of African History, Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery, W. E. B. Du Bois Encyclopedia, Malcolm X Encyclopedia, African American Encyclopedia, and the Historical Dictionary of Civil Rights. Additionally, Dr. Simba has published the definitive analysis of race and law using critical legal theory in his “Gong Lum v. Rice: The Convergence of Law, Race, and Ethnicity” in American Mosaic. His essay, “Joel Augustus Rogers: Negro Historians in History, Time, and Space,” appeared in Afro-American in New York Life and History 30:2 (July 2006) as part of a Special Issue: “Street Scholars and Stepladder Radicals-A Harlem Tradition,” Guest Editor, Ralph L. Crowder. The essays on Rogers contributes to our knowledge of street scholars or historians without portfolios. Dr. Simba’s other published works include book reviews in the Chicago Tribune, Focus on Law Studies, and the Journal of Southwest Georgia History.

The Three-Fifths Clause of the United States Constitution (1787)

Often misinterpreted to mean that African Americans as individuals are considered three-fifths of a person or that they are three-fifths of a citizen of the U.S., the three-fifths clause (Article I, Section 2, of the U.S. Constitution of 1787) in fact declared that for purposes … Read MoreThe Three-Fifths Clause of the United States Constitution (1787)

A Marxist Scholar Analyzes the American Legal System

In the following article Professor Malik Simba, an historian at California State University, Fresno describes his professional and personal odyssey that led to the writing of his book, Black Marxism and American Constitutionalism: From the Colonial Background through the Ascendancy of Barack Obama and the … Read MoreA Marxist Scholar Analyzes the American Legal System

The Association for the Study of African American Life and History: A Brief History

In the following account Professor Malik Simba of California State University, Fresno, describes the century-long history of the largest organized body dedicated to the research and promotion of African American history. The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) is the oldest … Read MoreThe Association for the Study of African American Life and History: A Brief History

John Hope Franklin (1915-2009)

John Hope Franklin, one of the nation’s leading historians, is the only African American who has served as president of both the American Historical Association (AHA) and the Organization of American Historians (OAH). Franklin was born in Rentiesville, Oklahoma on January 2, 1915 to parents … Read MoreJohn Hope Franklin (1915-2009)

“Yes We Can”: Barack Obama’s Road to the White House, 2008

In the following account California State University, Fresno history professor Malik Simba summarizes the 2008 presidential campaign of Illinois Senator Barack Obama.  Professor Simba reminds us of the many challenges faced by the campaign as well as the daring and innovative strategies it successfully employed … Read More“Yes We Can”: Barack Obama’s Road to the White House, 2008