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Three or More Is a Riot: Notes on How We Got Here: 2012-2025
A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • From one of the definitive journalists of this era—acclaimed historian, Pulitzer Prize finalist, staff writer at The New Yorker, and Dean of Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism—comes a kaleidoscopic, real-time portrait of the turbulent past decade.
“Gripping . . . a stirring catalog of institutions lost, of other lives cut short . . . Cobb is unfailingly modest about his insight and the power of his work to effect change. But that modesty belies the fact that Cobb’s writing makes us feel the injustice deeply.”—The New York Times Book Review
What just happened?
From the moment that Trayvon Martin’s senseless murder initiated the Black Lives Matter movement in 2014, America has been convulsed by new social movements—around guns, gender violence, sexual harassment, race, policing, and on and on—and an equally powerful backlash that abetted the rise of the MAGA movement. In this punchy, powerful collection of dispatches, mostly published in The New Yorker, Jelani Cobb pulls the signal from the noise of this chaotic era.
Cobb’s work as a reporter takes readers to the front lines of sometimes violent conflict, and he uses his gifts as a critic and historian to crack open the meaning of it all. Through a stunning mélange of narrative journalism, criticism, and penetrating profiles, Cobb’s writing captures the crises, characters, movements, and art of an era—and helps readers understand what might be coming next.
Cobb has added new material to this collection—retrospective pieces that bring these stories up-to-date and tie them together, shaping these powerful short dispatches into a cohesive, epic narrative of one of the most consequential periods in recent American history.
“Gripping . . . a stirring catalog of institutions lost, of other lives cut short . . . Cobb is unfailingly modest about his insight and the power of his work to effect change. But that modesty belies the fact that Cobb’s writing makes us feel the injustice deeply.”—The New York Times Book Review
What just happened?
From the moment that Trayvon Martin’s senseless murder initiated the Black Lives Matter movement in 2014, America has been convulsed by new social movements—around guns, gender violence, sexual harassment, race, policing, and on and on—and an equally powerful backlash that abetted the rise of the MAGA movement. In this punchy, powerful collection of dispatches, mostly published in The New Yorker, Jelani Cobb pulls the signal from the noise of this chaotic era.
Cobb’s work as a reporter takes readers to the front lines of sometimes violent conflict, and he uses his gifts as a critic and historian to crack open the meaning of it all. Through a stunning mélange of narrative journalism, criticism, and penetrating profiles, Cobb’s writing captures the crises, characters, movements, and art of an era—and helps readers understand what might be coming next.
Cobb has added new material to this collection—retrospective pieces that bring these stories up-to-date and tie them together, shaping these powerful short dispatches into a cohesive, epic narrative of one of the most consequential periods in recent American history.
480 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 14, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
December 13, 2025
When I received a copy of Three or More is a Riot by Jelani Cobb, it was an advance reader copy that was approved by Random House the publisher. The title of this book is the definition of "riot" in the criminal code. It's not a riot unless three or more people are involved in "concerted unlawful actions".
Cobb discusses how mixed race Barack Obama was defined as black by both the black and white communities. Yet he was brought up by his white mother to be culturally white. I imagine that being culturally white allowed Obama to be elected President of the United States.
Author Cobb attended Howard University, one of the big four HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities). So he includes discussion of HBCUs in this book. Thurgood Marshall, Kamala Harris, Zora Neale Hurston and Toni Morrison are among those mentioned as graduates of HBCUs. This implies that without HBCUs, it might have been a good deal more difficult for these important black figures to become prominent. I had almost no awareness of HBCUs before reading this book. So I was thoroughly educated in the significance of these institutions by reading Three or More is a Riot.
I gave this book an A- because although this book is excellent and very thorough, I didn't read anything in it that was unexpected.
For my complete review see https://shomeretmasked.blogspot.com/2...
Cobb discusses how mixed race Barack Obama was defined as black by both the black and white communities. Yet he was brought up by his white mother to be culturally white. I imagine that being culturally white allowed Obama to be elected President of the United States.
Author Cobb attended Howard University, one of the big four HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities). So he includes discussion of HBCUs in this book. Thurgood Marshall, Kamala Harris, Zora Neale Hurston and Toni Morrison are among those mentioned as graduates of HBCUs. This implies that without HBCUs, it might have been a good deal more difficult for these important black figures to become prominent. I had almost no awareness of HBCUs before reading this book. So I was thoroughly educated in the significance of these institutions by reading Three or More is a Riot.
I gave this book an A- because although this book is excellent and very thorough, I didn't read anything in it that was unexpected.
For my complete review see https://shomeretmasked.blogspot.com/2...
December 7, 2025
Big thanks to Random House, One World, and NetGalley for sending me an advanced copy of Jelani Cobb’s essential and relevant collection of his writing Three or More is a Riot: Notes on How We Got Here 2012-2025. Cobb, who is not only a skilled and astute writer whose pieces critically examine politics, culture, entertainment, and history, is also the current dean of Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism. I was really impressed with how deep and critical he gets with many of the subjects in these pieces, and yet how he is able to make them so accessible and relevant, and so moving and impactful. I found myself challenged with maintaining my composure while recounting the articles that detail some of the most horrific crimes in American history. The essays that recount the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church shooting were emotional and powerful, but not just because of the utter brutality and violence of the act; it’s Cobb’s focus on the victims and their lives that gives the piece it’s emotional punch. It’s been some time since I’ve read about this crime, and yet it’s hard to believe that it happened over 10 years ago. Cobb’s pieces often provide us with this perspective, understanding the impact on those whose narratives are often overshadowed by perpetrators or whose voices have been highjacked by louder, more presumptuous and privileged personalities. Furthermore, his pieces all help to understand that while these events happened in the past, we continue to see these clouds on the horizon, recognizing that “Storms don’t stand still so it’s important to understand what direction they’re headed in.” He presents this storm metaphor in the epilogue, but I think it’s important to reinforce this idea from the beginning, especially since these essays are so informative and educational. I felt like I learned so much from this collection, and even though I lived through and can remember many of the events Cobb analyzes in his writing, I gained new perspectives and understandings from these essays. I feel like so many of these pieces would function well in the classroom since Cobb provides readers with perspectives that are often overlooked, forgotten or beaten down, and it’s this fresh look at recent events (and some older instances of history) that help us better understand our present situation.
The book is organized into 3 sections that ostensibly grapple with the complexities of the first Black president (The Parameters of Hope), the first white president (Winter in America), and some of the unprecedented events that have occurred since (History Lessens- focused on COVID, 1/6/21, Impeachment, George Floyd, Hip Hop at 50, and the recent presidential election). I felt a kinship with Cobb in his use of Gil Scott Heron’s classic album Winter in America. I found myself listening to this album in 2016 and 2017, pulled by Scott Heron’s mournful, yet also hopeful songs, written in the aftermath of Watergate. I found the songs both critical and uplifting at time when things seemed so off kilter. It was interesting to also see Scott Heron’s music also have relevance in 2025 with One Battle After Another, another piece of media that critically examines the times we are in. Nevertheless, Cobb’s use of this title and his reflection on its meaning in 2016 and beyond were completely relevant. Although the book details critical instances in recent history like Michael Brown’s death and the loss of other prominent Black luminaries and leaders like Ruby Dee, Gwen Ifill, Elijah Cummings, and John Lewis, there were many other essays where I learned so much from Cobb’s reporting and analysis. For example, in “Hard Tests,” Cobb examines the complexities of Black leaders in HBCUs in the time of Trump, whose leadership has to walk a fine line between challenging the implicit racism of statements like DeVos’s school choice line to ensuring the future viability of HBCUs’ funding through government support. Cobb mentioned Ellison’s Invisible Man and the DeBois-Washington debate about the Atlanta Compromise, and I could understand the kind of complex ambiguity that writers like Ellison and Wright evoked in their work through characters like Trueblood and Bigger Thomas. The essay about Stacy Abrams was also revealing in how much we need more efforts to resist voter suppression and in general how important it can be to maintain state control of governorships and legislatures. We are witnessing vast efforts to minimize or outright erase gains from the voting initiatives of the past 60 years. I also loved the two essays about hip-hop- “D-Nice’s Club Quarantine is What You Need” and “Hip-Hop at Fifty: An Elegy.” I definitely agree with Cobb’s assessment of “My Name is D-Nice” as a gem, although I wouldn’t call it semi-obscure. I had no idea about this effort during the pandemic; I was probably too wrapped up in discovering some older shows or just trying to navigate having my kids home during the pandemic, but I think that these two essays offer some of the alternating themes of hope and community and forgetting and death in others. The “Hip-Hop at Fifty” brings up important issues about how hip-hop, often viewed as a young person’s game, has struggled with aging. I remember being shocked about the deaths of Guru, who died at 48 from complications related to cancer, and Professor X from X-Clan, who also passed away at 49 from spinal meningitis. I just remember thinking about how these illnesses were not always fatal, and I wondered how these elder statemen of hip-hop took care of their health. Cobb touches on some other more recent deaths, especially Phife Dawg, whose death in 2016 months before the release of their last album (We Got if From Here…Thank You 4 Your Service) and also right before the election was both shocking and preventable. It was also interesting to read this after listening to the latest Public Enemy album Black Sky Over the Projects: Apartment 2025 where Chuck D, still hitting hard as hell, reminds listeners that he’s currently a senior citizen. I couldn’t believe Chuck D is eligible for AARP, but if anything, his hard lyrics are a reminder of the indomitable nature of his spirit as much as Cobb’s essay is a reminder of not only the violence and threats to Black men, but also the social determinants of health that often create these disparities in health care and life spans. These essays challenged my thinking, and although they resonated with many of my beliefs and ideas, they also opened me up to new avenues of thought and perspectives that are too often overlooked, dismissed, or pushed aside. Cobb’s writing is clear and accessible, but also incredibly moving, even when he’s dropping science and teaching. Furthermore, even though these essays span the last 12 years, it is so important to revisit the memories of Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray, and George Floyd, as well as the victims of the Emanuel AME Church, the Tree of Life Synagogue, as well as the victims of the Christchurch killings in New Zealand, especially since we continue to witness the continued dehumanization and attempts to denigrate other people of color, minorities, and immigrants, and we see that this current violence is state sanctioned. Voices and perspectives like Cobb help to remind us about the cost of silence in these periods, as well as remind us of the communities and hope that can arise after these storms wreak havoc. I also forgot to mention one of the more powerful and important essays “The Man Behind Critical Race Theory” from September 2021. I loved reading about Derrick Bell, whose concern about the implications of desegregation and his fight for equality was complicated by a long history of violent opposition to equality and inequities in political and systemic power, was fascinating to learn more about. It was also essential reading since Bell’s ideas and concerns have been highjacked by the right whose willful misrepresentations and shameful ignorance about critical race theory have ultimately lumped it into something that it is not. If anything, Cobb’s essay helps to elucidate the complications of inequality, representation, power, and access that Bell was wrestling with, and presents a fuller, more complete picture than is often provided. Toni Morrison once wrote in Beloved that “Definitions belong to the definers, not the defined,” and sadly bad actors like Christopher Rufo have plunged the public into willful ignorance about this important topic by rebranding Bell’s ideas as toxic. However, Cobb’s essay paints a more realistic and complete picture not just of the ideas, but also of Bell’s interesting life and continued fight against the system. It was one of the many stand-out essays that I loved reading in this collection and will probably revisit again. Highly recommended and important reading!
The book is organized into 3 sections that ostensibly grapple with the complexities of the first Black president (The Parameters of Hope), the first white president (Winter in America), and some of the unprecedented events that have occurred since (History Lessens- focused on COVID, 1/6/21, Impeachment, George Floyd, Hip Hop at 50, and the recent presidential election). I felt a kinship with Cobb in his use of Gil Scott Heron’s classic album Winter in America. I found myself listening to this album in 2016 and 2017, pulled by Scott Heron’s mournful, yet also hopeful songs, written in the aftermath of Watergate. I found the songs both critical and uplifting at time when things seemed so off kilter. It was interesting to also see Scott Heron’s music also have relevance in 2025 with One Battle After Another, another piece of media that critically examines the times we are in. Nevertheless, Cobb’s use of this title and his reflection on its meaning in 2016 and beyond were completely relevant. Although the book details critical instances in recent history like Michael Brown’s death and the loss of other prominent Black luminaries and leaders like Ruby Dee, Gwen Ifill, Elijah Cummings, and John Lewis, there were many other essays where I learned so much from Cobb’s reporting and analysis. For example, in “Hard Tests,” Cobb examines the complexities of Black leaders in HBCUs in the time of Trump, whose leadership has to walk a fine line between challenging the implicit racism of statements like DeVos’s school choice line to ensuring the future viability of HBCUs’ funding through government support. Cobb mentioned Ellison’s Invisible Man and the DeBois-Washington debate about the Atlanta Compromise, and I could understand the kind of complex ambiguity that writers like Ellison and Wright evoked in their work through characters like Trueblood and Bigger Thomas. The essay about Stacy Abrams was also revealing in how much we need more efforts to resist voter suppression and in general how important it can be to maintain state control of governorships and legislatures. We are witnessing vast efforts to minimize or outright erase gains from the voting initiatives of the past 60 years. I also loved the two essays about hip-hop- “D-Nice’s Club Quarantine is What You Need” and “Hip-Hop at Fifty: An Elegy.” I definitely agree with Cobb’s assessment of “My Name is D-Nice” as a gem, although I wouldn’t call it semi-obscure. I had no idea about this effort during the pandemic; I was probably too wrapped up in discovering some older shows or just trying to navigate having my kids home during the pandemic, but I think that these two essays offer some of the alternating themes of hope and community and forgetting and death in others. The “Hip-Hop at Fifty” brings up important issues about how hip-hop, often viewed as a young person’s game, has struggled with aging. I remember being shocked about the deaths of Guru, who died at 48 from complications related to cancer, and Professor X from X-Clan, who also passed away at 49 from spinal meningitis. I just remember thinking about how these illnesses were not always fatal, and I wondered how these elder statemen of hip-hop took care of their health. Cobb touches on some other more recent deaths, especially Phife Dawg, whose death in 2016 months before the release of their last album (We Got if From Here…Thank You 4 Your Service) and also right before the election was both shocking and preventable. It was also interesting to read this after listening to the latest Public Enemy album Black Sky Over the Projects: Apartment 2025 where Chuck D, still hitting hard as hell, reminds listeners that he’s currently a senior citizen. I couldn’t believe Chuck D is eligible for AARP, but if anything, his hard lyrics are a reminder of the indomitable nature of his spirit as much as Cobb’s essay is a reminder of not only the violence and threats to Black men, but also the social determinants of health that often create these disparities in health care and life spans. These essays challenged my thinking, and although they resonated with many of my beliefs and ideas, they also opened me up to new avenues of thought and perspectives that are too often overlooked, dismissed, or pushed aside. Cobb’s writing is clear and accessible, but also incredibly moving, even when he’s dropping science and teaching. Furthermore, even though these essays span the last 12 years, it is so important to revisit the memories of Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray, and George Floyd, as well as the victims of the Emanuel AME Church, the Tree of Life Synagogue, as well as the victims of the Christchurch killings in New Zealand, especially since we continue to witness the continued dehumanization and attempts to denigrate other people of color, minorities, and immigrants, and we see that this current violence is state sanctioned. Voices and perspectives like Cobb help to remind us about the cost of silence in these periods, as well as remind us of the communities and hope that can arise after these storms wreak havoc. I also forgot to mention one of the more powerful and important essays “The Man Behind Critical Race Theory” from September 2021. I loved reading about Derrick Bell, whose concern about the implications of desegregation and his fight for equality was complicated by a long history of violent opposition to equality and inequities in political and systemic power, was fascinating to learn more about. It was also essential reading since Bell’s ideas and concerns have been highjacked by the right whose willful misrepresentations and shameful ignorance about critical race theory have ultimately lumped it into something that it is not. If anything, Cobb’s essay helps to elucidate the complications of inequality, representation, power, and access that Bell was wrestling with, and presents a fuller, more complete picture than is often provided. Toni Morrison once wrote in Beloved that “Definitions belong to the definers, not the defined,” and sadly bad actors like Christopher Rufo have plunged the public into willful ignorance about this important topic by rebranding Bell’s ideas as toxic. However, Cobb’s essay paints a more realistic and complete picture not just of the ideas, but also of Bell’s interesting life and continued fight against the system. It was one of the many stand-out essays that I loved reading in this collection and will probably revisit again. Highly recommended and important reading!
October 9, 2025
Great collection of Cobb's journalism from the last ten years, with an overall arc and focus on race and politics and culture and essentially, how we got to where we are in 2025.
October 27, 2025
Three or More Is a Riot: Notes on How We Got Here: 2012–2025
by Jelani Cobb
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you to Random House Group for the gifted copy! 🖤📚
Vibe Check
• Urgent
• Razor-sharp
• Reflective
• Unflinching
• Historically grounded
What I Loved
• Cobb’s ability to weave journalism, history, and moral clarity into a single voice that feels both intimate and monumental.
• Each essay acts as a time capsule: Ferguson, Charleston, MeToo, the Capitol insurrection, but read together, they form a larger story of reckoning and resistance.
• His prose is precise yet poetic, dissecting not only what happened but how language, memory, and media shape our understanding of truth.
• The connective essays between reprinted pieces are brilliant, offering continuity and reflection that make this more than a “greatest hits” collection.
• Cobb never positions himself as detached; he writes from inside the storm, balancing critical distance with emotional honesty.
What Didn’t Work for Me
• Some of the reprinted essays feel familiar if you’ve followed his work closely, though the added commentary reframes them beautifully.
• The heaviness of the subject matter makes this a book best read in intervals; it demands attention, not skimming.
Why You Should Read It
• You want to understand the moral and political fault lines that defined the last decade.
• You appreciate writers who can turn reporting into literature with purpose.
• You value journalism that refuses neutrality in the face of injustice.
Favorite Line
Final Word
Three or More Is a Riot is an unflinching chronicle of America’s last decade, a mosaic of rage, resilience, and reflection. Jelani Cobb doesn’t just document history; he dissects its anatomy, showing how culture, politics, and conscience collide. This collection cements him as one of the essential voices of our time, a writer who refuses to let us forget or look away. 🖋️🔥
by Jelani Cobb
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you to Random House Group for the gifted copy! 🖤📚
Vibe Check
• Urgent
• Razor-sharp
• Reflective
• Unflinching
• Historically grounded
What I Loved
• Cobb’s ability to weave journalism, history, and moral clarity into a single voice that feels both intimate and monumental.
• Each essay acts as a time capsule: Ferguson, Charleston, MeToo, the Capitol insurrection, but read together, they form a larger story of reckoning and resistance.
• His prose is precise yet poetic, dissecting not only what happened but how language, memory, and media shape our understanding of truth.
• The connective essays between reprinted pieces are brilliant, offering continuity and reflection that make this more than a “greatest hits” collection.
• Cobb never positions himself as detached; he writes from inside the storm, balancing critical distance with emotional honesty.
What Didn’t Work for Me
• Some of the reprinted essays feel familiar if you’ve followed his work closely, though the added commentary reframes them beautifully.
• The heaviness of the subject matter makes this a book best read in intervals; it demands attention, not skimming.
Why You Should Read It
• You want to understand the moral and political fault lines that defined the last decade.
• You appreciate writers who can turn reporting into literature with purpose.
• You value journalism that refuses neutrality in the face of injustice.
Favorite Line
“We are living in the aftermath of every era that claimed it was past the problem it refused to solve.”
Final Word
Three or More Is a Riot is an unflinching chronicle of America’s last decade, a mosaic of rage, resilience, and reflection. Jelani Cobb doesn’t just document history; he dissects its anatomy, showing how culture, politics, and conscience collide. This collection cements him as one of the essential voices of our time, a writer who refuses to let us forget or look away. 🖋️🔥
November 19, 2025
In the ATX at the vaunted Black Pearl Books to celebrate the release of THREE OR MORE IS A RIOT: NOTES ON HOW WE GOT HERE: 2012-2025, I got to chop it up with the one and only Dean of Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism, staff writer at The New Yorker, historian and author, and most importantly (to me), Jamaica High School alum, Jelani Cobb.
I discovered Dr. Cobb’s writing in 2015 based on his New Yorker article, Class Notes, in which Dr. Cobb so eloquently writes of the rise and fall of Jamaica High School, in Queens, NYC, once the largest high school in the United States.
THREE OR MORE IS A RIOT is a “gripping anthology” of Dr. Cobb’s writings on race and culture for The New Yorker and Class Notes is included!!
Of THREE OR MORE IS A RIOT, which represents Cobb’s evolution as a thinker and reporter across a decade and a half, “it is foremost a stirring catalog of institutions lost, of other lives cut short.”
In his October New York Times review of the book Michael P. Jeffries, Dean of Academic Affairs, and a professor of American studies at Wellesley, writes “on the rare occasions when (Cobb) inserts his personal experience into his journalism, the result is a rich and satisfying creation. Nowhere is this more clear than in a piece about the 2014 closing of Jamaica High School, Cobb’s alma mater in Queens. In a book that often exposes evident bigotry, Cobb’s nuanced and careful treatment of Jamaica High considers the most essential questions we can ask about racism and poverty.”
All respect to my fellow JHS alum!
I discovered Dr. Cobb’s writing in 2015 based on his New Yorker article, Class Notes, in which Dr. Cobb so eloquently writes of the rise and fall of Jamaica High School, in Queens, NYC, once the largest high school in the United States.
THREE OR MORE IS A RIOT is a “gripping anthology” of Dr. Cobb’s writings on race and culture for The New Yorker and Class Notes is included!!
Of THREE OR MORE IS A RIOT, which represents Cobb’s evolution as a thinker and reporter across a decade and a half, “it is foremost a stirring catalog of institutions lost, of other lives cut short.”
In his October New York Times review of the book Michael P. Jeffries, Dean of Academic Affairs, and a professor of American studies at Wellesley, writes “on the rare occasions when (Cobb) inserts his personal experience into his journalism, the result is a rich and satisfying creation. Nowhere is this more clear than in a piece about the 2014 closing of Jamaica High School, Cobb’s alma mater in Queens. In a book that often exposes evident bigotry, Cobb’s nuanced and careful treatment of Jamaica High considers the most essential questions we can ask about racism and poverty.”
All respect to my fellow JHS alum!
November 30, 2025
Thank you to Net Galley and Random House / One World for the advanced reader’s copy of Three or More is a Riot.
Dr. Cobb’s excellent insight of the last ten years is defined by his coverage of the personal and political, weaving in current topics that impact the country as a whole, and as individual who can find parts of themselves within the essays published in the book. Cobb’s writing on topics as vast as Trayvon Martin and the Trump administration’s assault on democracy have proven to be profound and prescient.
My favorite essays included the story of Ruby Dee, Gwen Ifill, and Harry Belafonte, all who made marks in their field, and Class Notes. As a native New Yorker who currently resides in Atlanta, I could see family members and friends who have been impacted by their connections to both the King family and the closing of Jamaica High School.
Many of the writings I have looked at from where we are today, and how this journey began, The columns are a reminder of exactly “how we got here,” a moving compilation of essays.
Dr. Cobb’s excellent insight of the last ten years is defined by his coverage of the personal and political, weaving in current topics that impact the country as a whole, and as individual who can find parts of themselves within the essays published in the book. Cobb’s writing on topics as vast as Trayvon Martin and the Trump administration’s assault on democracy have proven to be profound and prescient.
My favorite essays included the story of Ruby Dee, Gwen Ifill, and Harry Belafonte, all who made marks in their field, and Class Notes. As a native New Yorker who currently resides in Atlanta, I could see family members and friends who have been impacted by their connections to both the King family and the closing of Jamaica High School.
Many of the writings I have looked at from where we are today, and how this journey began, The columns are a reminder of exactly “how we got here,” a moving compilation of essays.
October 14, 2025
Three or More Is a Riot: Notes on How We Got Here: 2012–2025 by Jelani Cobb is a masterclass in clarity, courage, and cultural reflection. Cobb captures the pulse of America’s most turbulent decade with the precision of a historian and the empathy of a storyteller.
From Ferguson to MeToo, from the rise of new movements to the weight of backlash, every essay feels like both a time capsule and a mirror. Cobb doesn’t just recount the chaos, he dissects it, giving readers context, conscience, and a hard look at who we’ve become. His writing moves seamlessly between journalism and moral inquiry, urging us to reckon with not just what happened, but why.
This collection isn’t just a record of history, it’s a reckoning, a map, and a moral compass. Three or More Is a Riot belongs on the shelf beside Baldwin, Coates, and Orwell an essential chronicle of truth in a time of noise.
From Ferguson to MeToo, from the rise of new movements to the weight of backlash, every essay feels like both a time capsule and a mirror. Cobb doesn’t just recount the chaos, he dissects it, giving readers context, conscience, and a hard look at who we’ve become. His writing moves seamlessly between journalism and moral inquiry, urging us to reckon with not just what happened, but why.
This collection isn’t just a record of history, it’s a reckoning, a map, and a moral compass. Three or More Is a Riot belongs on the shelf beside Baldwin, Coates, and Orwell an essential chronicle of truth in a time of noise.
November 14, 2025
“And though we think of ourselves as a nation of immigrants, many Americans are removed enough from identity-based communities to recoil at the idea that they’d be held accountable for someone else’s crimes. But recent immigrants know that, even in a country founded upon the premise of individual rights, there is no guarantee that a person will be treated as an individual.”
This was great. I’d recommend this for fans of Ta-Nehisi Coates and Eric Foner’s recent essay collection, Our Fragile Freedoms.
This was great. I’d recommend this for fans of Ta-Nehisi Coates and Eric Foner’s recent essay collection, Our Fragile Freedoms.
December 28, 2025
"Our worst problem is not cynicism, it's the frequency with which that cynicism proves accurate."
4.5/A great collection of essays and look at how we got where we are. Great work of scholarship. Sobering read that more reminds me why I feel so cynical and heartbroken by the state of our nation than gives me hope that it will get better.
4.5/A great collection of essays and look at how we got where we are. Great work of scholarship. Sobering read that more reminds me why I feel so cynical and heartbroken by the state of our nation than gives me hope that it will get better.
November 9, 2025
3.5
Thirteen years of essays the author has written about the perils of being black while living in America - especially considering George Floyd, Travis, Travon Martin, and many others whose names will be familiar to anyone who pays attention to the news.
Thought priovoking.
Thirteen years of essays the author has written about the perils of being black while living in America - especially considering George Floyd, Travis, Travon Martin, and many others whose names will be familiar to anyone who pays attention to the news.
Thought priovoking.
December 23, 2025
Most of the essays in "Three or More is a Riot" were very interesting and gave me insight into the experiences of the people involved. Some of the essays didn't grab me and I found myself "skimming." Overall, I am glad I read this book.
November 9, 2025
Grim and insightful.
December 1, 2025
This is ultimately a collection of reprinted essays (often with some updates and after-the-fact reflections), and makes for a good review of what happened in this country in the last 13 years.
December 29, 2025
Thought-provoking series of essays written over the last decade or so that brilliantly capture not just the mood of that moment but also its deeper meaning for today.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews