Kelly Lytle Hernández holds The Thomas E. Lifka Endowed Chair in History and directs the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA. A 2019 MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient, she is the author of the award-winning books Migra! and City of Inmates. She lives in Los Angeles, California.
There is no Hollywood movie about the magonistas, although reading Bad Mexicans is like watching one....Like Flores Magon, Lytle Hernandez's pen is her sword; her writing is a monument to the belief that language can change the world. -- Geraldo Cadava - The New Yorker An award-winning, internationally acclaimed scholar, Kelly Lytle Hernandez delivers historical analysis with clear relevance in today's sociopolitical climate. A leading voice on issues ranging from immigration to policing to the criminal justice system more broadly, her work is known for empowering a wide range of communities, providing the necessary historical framing to build synergy among some of today's most daring social movements. -- Heather Anne Thompson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Blood in the Water Kelly Lytle Hernandez is one of the most compelling historians in her field. Synthesizing the complexities of race, gender, and ethnicity into the fabric of living history, her work sheds light on today's crucial issues and her passion has the capacity to not only inform but to change minds. -- Michael Eric Dyson, New York Times best-selling author of What Truth Sounds Like Kelly Lytle Hernandez writes history and makes history. She is one of the most admired and respected historians of Mexican-American history and the United States. Conveying deep archival research in a compelling, accessible narrative, she breathes life in -- Vicki Lynn Ruiz, winner of the National Humanities Medal