Resources to Continue Learning About Black History


COURTNEY BAXTER

As we enter March and Black History Month is behind us, let us not stop educating ourselves and celebrating the lives of black people!

Your Assignment: Black History Month 365

It's always a joy to me to share history with people and Black History has that personal connection. It’s history that so often can be grounded in only the oppressive experiences and, of course, those experiences are real and important to discuss but they are not the only ones. Black history also has stories of joy, complexity, inspiration, diversity and more. There is Black history that can be experienced and discussed in so many ways. I can’t share it all but I can suggest some ways you explore it on your own. It’s like an easy syllabus so you can celebrate Black history 365 days a year.

Ways to explore Black history with the children in your life:

  • Try out this huge booklist. Some are about Black history and some simply have Black characters (which is important too!): https://aalbc.com/books/children.php

  • Check out, Motown Magic, a show that incorporates the historic music of Motown for kids (Netflix)

  • Take time with your kids to notice and question is included and not included in the media they consume. How are those who are portrayed treated or shown?

What to watch (my goodness you don’t have to keep rewatching The Help):

  • Films more about Black experience not centered on trauma (mostly): https://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/movies-about-black-joy-48137615

  • Take a glimpse it the complex religious experience of Black Americans through The Black Church: This is Our Story, This is Our Song (PBS): https://www.pbs.org/show/black-church/

  • A super brief look at Black American women’s hair in the past 100 years (Youtube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vd-AP_q2r4

  • Hear the profound words of author and scholar James Baldwin through his own voice:

  • I am Not Your Negro (available on Netflix and Amazon Prime)

What to listen to:

  • Experience the albums that have shaped the Black experience from Al Green to Kendrick Lamar (The Root/Very Smart Brothas) [language and content warning]: https://www.theroot.com/recap-28-days-of-album-cover-blackness-with-vsb-1846375929

  • Check out this podcast about the underappreciated activist Fannie Lou Hamer (History Chicks): http://thehistorychicks.com/episode-153-fannie-lou-hamer/

Other:

  • A peek into some of Black culture’s influence on fashion history: https://www.elle.com/uk/fashion/a34244867/fashion-inspired-by-black-culture/

  • Explore the website of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) or follow them on Instagram: https://nmaahc.si.edu/

  • Visit your nearest Black history museum or exhibit; also realize that Black people's stories are not only in exhibits and museums that explicitly talk about Black people. What stories can you find?

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Courtney is native of the south suburbs of Chicago, a museum educator, crafter, lover of history and sociology, and much more. She likes to spend her time talking too much (once you get her started), writing lists, being creative, dancing around her apartment, being curious, and making people cackle with laughter. Talk to her anytime and bring tacos.

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