About

Judson L. Jeffries is a Professor of African American and African Studies at The Ohio State University. He earned his B.A. from Old Dominion University, his M.A. from SUNY-Binghamton, and his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Southern California. His research interests include police-community relations, race and medicine, state violence, and revolutionary movements of the 1960s. Professor Jeffries has taught and held fellowships at notable institutions such as Harvard University, Morehouse College, Tufts University, the University of Georgia, the RAND Corporation, and the Monterey Institute’s Center for Nonproliferation Studies. He has received numerous awards, including Faculty Advisor of the Year, Teacher of the Year, and the Frank W. Hale Leadership Award. Jeffries is the author, co-author, and editor of nine books, with his most recent work being a co-edited book titled 'Feel My Big Guitar: Prince and the Sound he helped Create.' He is also the editor-in-chief of Spectrum: A Journal on Black Men and is a member of several honor societies, including Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, and Sigma Xi. Among his most valued roles is serving as faculty advisor to the Iota Psi chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. at Ohio State University.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Sociology
• Computer Science
• History
• Psychology
• Classical mechanics
• Computer vision
• Physics
• Archaeology
• Criminology
• Gender studies
• Social psychology

Selected publications

• Charles V. Hamilton: A Tribute

  Spectrum A Journal on Black Men · 2024-02-28

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Charles V. Hamilton: A Tribute Judson L. Jeffries Charles V. Hamilton is among a long list of old school Black political scientists who have transitioned over the last ten years. The W. S. Sayre Professor Emeritus of Government and Political Science at Columbia University, Hamilton was both a giant and pioneering social scientist. A Chicago PhD, Dr. Hamilton first came to my attention during my freshman year in college in the early 1980s. I was enrolled in an Introduction to Government class where the assigned textbook was American Government by Charles V. Hamilton. I remember the text like it was yesterday. A hardback book with a Black cover accompanied by an image of the Lincoln Memorial that took up more space than was needed. After all those years the book remains in my possession in my parents' house on the East Coast, a property I inherited several years ago. Hamilton taught at several places before settling in at Columbia University. Among those institutions at which he taught are Roosevelt University (his alma mater), historically Black Tuskegee Institute (now University), and Lincoln University as well as Rutgers University. Hamilton is most noted for his widely heralded co-authored work with Stokely Carmichael (later Kwame Ture) titled Black Power: The Politics of Liberation. Many scholars credit Carmichael and Hamilton with entering the words institutional racism into the American lexicon. Before the book went to press in 1967 the folks at Random House threatened to cancel publication in response to Carmichael's association with Cuba's communist/socialist regime and his call for revolution. The authors and the press eventually came to terms by agreeing to insert a message before the first page that read: This book represents a political framework and ideology which represents the last reasonable opportunity for this society to work out its racial problems short of prolonged destructive guerrilla warfare. That such violent warfare may be unavoidable is not herein denied. But if there is the slightest chance to avoid it, the politics of Black Power as described in this book is seen as the only viable hope. [End Page 89] Hamilton is also known for coining the term "deracialization," a political strategy that attempts to lift up historically marginalized communities by focusing on issues that transcend race such as education, taxes, healthcare, employment, and the environment, thus avoiding the kind of pushback that one typically experiences from Whites when one attempts to address matters that are typically associated with race such as welfare and the like. Hamilton's scholarship on deracialization laid the groundwork for scholars, one of whom happens to be this writer. Hamilton authored/co-authored six books: The Dual Agenda in 1997 with his wife Donna Hamilton, Adam Clayton Powell in 1992, the earlier mentioned textbook American Government, Bench and the Ballot: Southern Federal Judges and Black Voters in 1974, The Black Preacher in America in 1972, and Black Power: The Politics of Liberation in 1967. At a time when many Blacks were advocating for integration, Hamilton stood out, arguing in the tradition of Malcolm X and James Baldwin that some Blacks hated themselves, and people who hate themselves do more harm to themselves than good by integrating because they only end up suppressing their identity and true selves. Furthermore, Hamilton contended that when Whites called for integration, they rarely did so from a place of good will, but instead out of a desire for Blacks to suppress their culture and carry themselves more like the very people who oppress them. Hamilton's position was not without merit, but rare among Black scholars. Charles V. Hamilton was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, in 1929, but raised on Chicago's southside. He taught at Columbia University for nearly 30 years, retiring in 1998. Hamilton died at the age of 94 on the evening of November 18, 2023. He is one of the many Black political scientists on whose shoulders I have stood since earning my doctorate in political science in 1997 from the University of Southern California. Dr. Hamilton's work has without question stood the test of time, which is a testament to his contribution to the academy, generally, and political science, specifically. Copyright © 2024 Trustees...

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• Conversation with Al Nuness (Prince’s Basketball Coach)

  University Press of Mississippi eBooks · 2024-11-15

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  This chapter examines the life and achievements of Al Nuness, emphasizing his influence on basketball and his mentorship of Prince. Nuness excels as a standout player at the University of Minnesota before becoming the institution's first African American full-time assistant coach in any sport. He recalls Prince's remarkable basketball talent during his youth, describing him as a dominant player despite his small stature and his later decision to focus on music when his peers surpassed him in height and ability. Nuness highlights Prince's quiet yet humorous nature and shares memories of his loyalty to childhood friends and his deep-rooted ties to Minneapolis. Finally, the chapter celebrates Prince's humility and his dedication to supporting his community, even after achieving worldwide fame.

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• CONVERSATION WITH AL NUNESS (PRINCE’S BASKETBALL COACH)

  University Press of Mississippi eBooks · 2024-10-23

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Maurice J. Hobson, Eddie Cole, Jim C. Harper II and Derrick P. Alridge: With Faith in God and Heart and Mind: A History of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity 

  Journal of African American Studies · 2024-12-01

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• A Tribute to Dr. Nathan Hare

  Journal of African American Studies · 2024-12-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• You Don’t Know Jim Brown; You Just Think You Do!

  Spectrum A Journal on Black Men · 2023-03-01

  article1st authorCorresponding

  You Don’t Know Jim Brown; You Just Think You Do! Judson L. Jeffries Inducted into the National College Football Hall of Fame in 1995 (why that took so long is anybody’s guess) and the National Football League’s Hall of Fame in 1971, his first year of eligibility, many sports enthusiasts are familiar with Jim Brown’s gridiron exploits, but little else. When asked about The Sporting News naming him the greatest professional football player ever in 2002, he scoffed at the suggestion, replying humbly, “well, I know I didn’t play any defense for the Browns.” When Brown entered the NFL in 1957, after graduating from Syracuse University, baseball was America’s most popular sport, and although it took decades for the NFL to overtake the MLB, Brown played a big part in that, as the game’s leading ball carrier and one of its first superstars following World War II. No one had ever seen a player like Brown. In 1964, the Cleveland Browns fullback, not halfback, contrary to revisionist history, led his team to an NFL championship (later known as the Super Bowl). When he retired in 1965, he did so as the NFL’s all-time leading rusher. It took nearly 20 years before that record was broken. By that time the NFL had expanded its schedule from 14 to 16 games. Brown was a unique player, meaning someone who doesn’t remind you of anyone else. When Brown was drafted by the Cleveland Browns, he joined the club as a second lieutenant via Syracuse’s Army ROTC program and continued his military training at Fort Benning, GA. Years later Brown was honorably discharged at the rank of captain. In 2016, Brown was inducted into the U.S. Army ROTC National Hall of Fame. Not only was Brown one of the best college football players in the country he was also a two-time All-American in lacrosse. In 1983 he was the first African American inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame. Considered one of the sport’s all-time greats, the Premier Lacrosse League MVP Award is named in [End Page 117] Brown’s honor. Brown was an all-around athlete. In the summer of 1955, Brown placed fifth in the men’s national collegiate decathlon in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Few athletes enjoyed the level of fame and reverence as Jim Brown. But he was more than just an athlete. Back in the early 1990s, a mutual friend gave me Brown’s home phone number and encouraged me to call, as I was interested in volunteering for his Amer-I-Can program. Big Daddy Kane answered the phone, but that’s another story. Around that same time, I had the occasion to meet Governor L. Douglas Wilder of Virginia, the country’s first Black elected governor. During one of my visits back to the East Coast to see my parents, I mentioned to my father that I had a scheduled meeting with the governor, that I would be traveling to Richmond, Virginia, in a few days for the appointment. My father was nonplussed. When he asked what else was going on, I told him that I had spoken to Jim Brown, that I would be meeting with him once I returned to Los Angeles. Suddenly, my father came alive and asked, “you mean Jimmy Brown of the Cleveland Browns?” I responded in the affirmative at which point he proceeded to pepper me with questions. “How do you know him?” “What are you going to be doing with him?” He was more impressed with my meeting Jim Brown than he was with my appointment with the country’s first elected Black governor. My father said, “I have a lot of respect for ole’ Brown.” I also remember my father saying something like he didn’t sell out . . . he never caved in . . . he didn’t go along to get along . . . always stood tall. Brown was one of few athletes whose activities off the field were just as important if not more than his successes on the field. For decades, Brown worked with Los Angeles’s gangs in ways that no one had before. Brown...

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• Introduction

  University Press of Mississippi eBooks · 2023-06-23

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  Extract PrincEnlighteNmenT, a term introduced in Spectrum’s Fall 2020 special issue on Prince, denotes how, through his music, Prince has over the years made us cringe as well as startled and informed us. On so many occasions, he turned conventional wisdom on its head, all the while giving us something to think about and challenged us to look and think beyond what we see and are told. Prince’s music is a conscious-raising experience. Although known for his seeming preoccupation with sex that manifests in his outrageous lyrics and stage antics, Prince was unquestionably a political animal. In fact, listening to a Prince album/CD is like taking a master class in the social sciences or the humanities. A close examination of Prince’s catalog reveals that there are few works in which societal issues are not featured prominently. Aside from the politics of sex, gender, and sexuality, one can find topics ranging from international relations to abject poverty to drug addiction to the space race to the Cold War. When it came to the hot button issues of the day, Prince left few stones unturned.

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• Rehiring Killer-Cops Tells Us Everything We Need to Know About the System

  Spectrum A Journal on Black Men · 2023-03-01

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Rehiring Killer-Cops Tells Us Everything We Need to Know About the System Judson L. Jeffries Two months ago, I learned that Myles Cosgrove, the former Louisville Metro Police Officer who fired the fatal shot that killed Breonna Taylor, an emergency management technician, a few short years ago, is once again gainfully employed in law enforcement. Apparently, the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, an hour outside of Louisville, had an opening to fill and deemed Cosgrove worthy of the job. “We think he will help reduce the flow of drugs in our area and reduce property crimes. We felt like he was a good candidate to help us in our county,” said a police official. News of that hiring was disappointing but not surprising. Over the past 30 years, I have had the pleasure of talking to and interacting with many fine police officers of all stripes across the country. In my many conversations with them, on- and off-the-record, one theme continued to surface and that is, some police leaders’ willingness to ignore an officer’s past discretions when filling a position. In other words, not only are those police officers who engage in extralegal force resulting in either serious injury or death often not terminated, but when they are, it is not atypical for them to find employment in nearby law enforcement agencies. Not only is it not uncommon for them to land law enforcement positions elsewhere, it is also not atypical for them to repeat the same behaviors that resulted in their termination by their previous employer. Many years ago, a retired Chicago police officer told me this under anonymity: many of the officers who engage in criminality of all kinds, not just extralegal force, are not first-time offenders. When I asked him to expound on this, he shot back, “By the time they retire, and many of them are kept on the force long enough to retire, they have a jacket/file of complaints as thick as a spiral notebook. On those rare occasions when they are terminated,” said this officer, “it’s not hard for them to find jobs in other police departments.” Another retired police officer, the first woman [End Page 1] chief of a major police department, agreed, but when I asked her why bad seeds are retained or able to find employment elsewhere after they are terminated, she said, “because some police leaders believe that officers like that serve a particular purpose.” She continued, “during my day, it was not rare for a fired police officer to find employment in another city within the same state. That was not uncommon at all.” Despite firing 16 shots into Taylor’s apartment, including the shot that killed her, Cosgrove did not face any criminal charges. He was fired instead for violating use of force procedures and failing to use a body camera during the illegal raid on Taylor’s apartment. Although I found news of Cosgrove’s hiring deflating, it was not surprising. Sadly, the same thing happens in other industries such as healthcare, the legal field, and education, to name a few. Despite a person’s troubled history, as long as said person’s license is not revoked, that person is seemingly free to pursue other opportunities within the same line of work. For example, in academia, members of a search committee may be instructed by administrators to ignore what may be learned about a candidate’s past and consider only the person’s application and how they comport themselves during the interview. How troublesome is that? So, the fact that Cosgrove was able to latch on with another law enforcement agency shouldn’t surprise anyone. Upon learning of the decision by the Carroll County Sherriff’s Office, understandably, some residents were outraged. Outrage without a plan of action will not amount to much. The hiring of Cosgrove is further confirmation that the system is broken and in need of a long overdue rehaul. Thus, our outrage should be channeled toward putting measures in place that brings the practice of recycling problem police officers to an abrupt end rather than staging hastily put-together protests that yield next to nothing and...

  PublisherDOI

• You Don’t Know Jim Brown; You Just Think You Do!

  Spectrum A Journal on Black Men · 2023-03-01

  article1st authorCorresponding

  You Don’t Know Jim Brown; You Just Think You Do! Judson L. Jeffries Inducted into the National College Football Hall of Fame in 1995 (why that took so long is anybody’s guess) and the National Football League’s Hall of Fame in 1971, his first year of eligibility, many sports enthusiasts are familiar with Jim Brown’s gridiron exploits, but little else. When asked about The Sporting News naming him the greatest professional football player ever in 2002, he scoffed at the suggestion, replying humbly, “well, I know I didn’t play any defense for the Browns.” When Brown entered the NFL in 1957, after graduating from Syracuse University, baseball was America’s most popular sport, and although it took decades for the NFL to overtake the MLB, Brown played a big part in that, as the game’s leading ball carrier and one of its first superstars following World War II. No one had ever seen a player like Brown. In 1964, the Cleveland Browns fullback, not halfback, contrary to revisionist history, led his team to an NFL championship (later known as the Super Bowl). When he retired in 1965, he did so as the NFL’s all-time leading rusher. It took nearly 20 years before that record was broken. By that time the NFL had expanded its schedule from 14 to 16 games. Brown was a unique player, meaning someone who doesn’t remind you of anyone else. When Brown was drafted by the Cleveland Browns, he joined the club as a second lieutenant via Syracuse’s Army ROTC program and continued his military training at Fort Benning, GA. Years later Brown was honorably discharged at the rank of captain. In 2016, Brown was inducted into the U.S. Army ROTC National Hall of Fame. Not only was Brown one of the best college football players in the country he was also a two-time All-American in lacrosse. In 1983 he was the first African American inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame. Considered one of the sport’s all-time greats, the Premier Lacrosse League MVP Award is named in [End Page 117] Brown’s honor. Brown was an all-around athlete. In the summer of 1955, Brown placed fifth in the men’s national collegiate decathlon in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Few athletes enjoyed the level of fame and reverence as Jim Brown. But he was more than just an athlete. Back in the early 1990s, a mutual friend gave me Brown’s home phone number and encouraged me to call, as I was interested in volunteering for his Amer-I-Can program. Big Daddy Kane answered the phone, but that’s another story. Around that same time, I had the occasion to meet Governor L. Douglas Wilder of Virginia, the country’s first Black elected governor. During one of my visits back to the East Coast to see my parents, I mentioned to my father that I had a scheduled meeting with the governor, that I would be traveling to Richmond, Virginia, in a few days for the appointment. My father was nonplussed. When he asked what else was going on, I told him that I had spoken to Jim Brown, that I would be meeting with him once I returned to Los Angeles. Suddenly, my father came alive and asked, “you mean Jimmy Brown of the Cleveland Browns?” I responded in the affirmative at which point he proceeded to pepper me with questions. “How do you know him?” “What are you going to be doing with him?” He was more impressed with my meeting Jim Brown than he was with my appointment with the country’s first elected Black governor. My father said, “I have a lot of respect for ole’ Brown.” I also remember my father saying something like he didn’t sell out . . . he never caved in . . . he didn’t go along to get along . . . always stood tall. Brown was one of few athletes whose activities off the field were just as important if not more than his successes on the field. For decades, Brown worked with Los Angeles’s gangs in ways that no one had before. Brown...

  PublisherDOI

• Jazz Man Bill Lee

  Spectrum A Journal on Black Men · 2023-03-01

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Jazz Man Bill Lee Judson L. Jeffries Bill Lee was more than just Spike Lee’s father, he was an accomplished musician who worked with such greats as Duke Ellington, Harry Belafonte, Simon and Garfunkel, Aretha Franklin, and Peter, Paul, and Mary. Most notably, Lee’s work on Bob Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” is considered classic. A savant on the double bass, Lee found a home with Strata-East Records, a musician-owned label, and founded and directed the well-known New York Bass Violin Choir. He was also a poet, penned folk-jazz operas, and wrote the score for four films—She’s Gotta Have It, Do the Right Thing, School Daze, and Mo’ Better Blues. About the New York Bass Violin Choir, Lee received favorable reviews from some critics who were impressed with the ensemble’s fluidity and ability to incorporate differing sonics in performing Lee’s folk operas at such landmarks as Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center and Town Hall. Lee’s operas included Baby Sweets, The Depot, and One Mile East. Lee’s versatility shone through at times when he served as bassist, singer, and narrator of his operas, which drew heavily from the harsh realities for Black life in his hometown of Snow Hill, Alabama, the birthplace of two other African Americans who made a name for themselves in the arts—Waverly Turner Carmichael and Noah S. Purifoy. Lee mastered the double bass, the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, while a student at Morehouse College from which he graduated in the early 1950s. Spelman College’s proximity to Morehouse College allowed Lee to take advantage of the resources offered there as well, singing in the glee club and performing in the school’s quartet. At some point after graduating college Lee decided to move to Chicago where he honed his craft at various spots and night clubs on the city’s South Side before ultimately making his way to New York City, the Mecca of Black Culture, in the late 1950s where he forged his reputation as a musician in places like the Five Spot and performed with some of the country’s great talents. It didn’t take long before Lee secured work with John Handy on No Coast Jazz. A few years later Lee appeared on Aretha Franklin’s debut album Aretha, by 1964 he was a central part of Simon and Garfunkel’s Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., the duo’s first album. From Lee’s standpoint, there was no better place on the planet for a jazz musician than Gotham City. [End Page 121] Born just one year before the country was beset by the Great Depression, Lee was exposed to music at an early age, as his father was Florida A & M University’s band director and his mother a classical concert pianist and teacher. Not surprisingly, he tried his hand at various instruments, including the piano, drums, and flute. It was the bass, however, for which Lee would become famous. And it was the traditional bass to which he remained loyal. He scoffed at the rising new wave of electric bass guitars that emerged in the 1970s, instead electing to stick with the double bass for which he was known. His life’s work spans several decades, thousands of live performances, and appearances on more than 250 albums. In other words, he’s more than just Spike Lee’s father. Lee died at his home on Wednesday May 24, 2023; he was 94. [End Page 122] Copyright © 2023 Trustees of Indiana University and The Ohio State University

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Frequent coauthors

• Omari L. Dyson

  6 shared

• Evelyn M. Simien

  University of Connecticut

  4 shared

• Lisa Baldez

  4 shared

• Will Kymlicka

  4 shared

• Manjusha Gupte

  University of Victoria

  4 shared

• Charles E. Jones

  4 shared

• Ange‐Marie Hancock

  The Ohio State University

  4 shared

• Andrew Rehfeld

  4 shared

Awards & honors

• Faculty Advisor of the Year
• Teacher of the Year
• Frank W. Hale Leadership Award
• Nominated for the 2007 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award
• Nominated for the 2002 John Hope Franklin Publication Prize