Black History Year

Gender has shaped and continues to shape much of our lives. It tells boys to wear blue and girls to wear pink, dictates what careers are “appropriate” as adults, and even has a say in how we’re expected to express our feelings. But in the tradition of Black resistance, our people have pushed back against these arbitrary rules. In July 2024, new host Darren Wallace talked about that and much more w...

The gunshot ripped a hole through his body. His wife shoved their screaming children into the bathroom and crawled to the front door to check on him. There he lay, drenched in blood – trying to whisper three crucial, final words. _____________ 2-Minute Black History is produced by PushBlack, the nation's largest non-profit Black media company. PushBlack exists to amplify the stories of Black histo...

Singer Della Reese couldn’t believe it. Her white producer was threatening to take her career-breaking show off the air. When she asked why, he gave the most absurdly racist and unjustifiable reason. _____________ 2-Minute Black History is produced by PushBlack, the nation's largest non-profit Black media company. PushBlack exists to amplify the stories of Black history you didn't learn in school....

Her feet were blistered from the long walk to their new home. But California was a free state, and she would soon join other residents as a free woman – or so she thought. _____________ 2-Minute Black History is produced by PushBlack, the nation's largest non-profit Black media company. PushBlack exists to amplify the stories of Black history you didn't learn in school. You make PushBlack happen w...

When he arrived at the last victim's house, he let her pray before shooting her dead. Please believe Nat Turner was about that life because he was about his people! But these lies? Don’t believe them. They’re whitewashed fantasies. _____________ 2-Minute Black History is produced by PushBlack, the nation's largest non-profit Black media company. PushBlack exists to amplify the stories of Black his...

In many ways, the health and wellness industry is killing Black people. For our audacity to exist with melanated skin, we’ve historically endured subjugation, political and economic disenfranchisement, and centuries-long death. And it hasn’t stopped yet. In June 2023, Jay talked about it with Da’Shaun L. Harrison for season 7 of BHY. Da’Shaun is a self-described Black, fat, trans, disabled, queer...

You might already know about the loophole in the 13th Amendment that allowed slavery. But did you know there’s a loophole in THAT loophole that's still being used today? And, as always, it’s used to brutalize and exploit Black people the most. _____________ 2-Minute Black History is produced by PushBlack, the nation's largest non-profit Black media company. PushBlack exists to amplify the stories...

Sometimes, it feels like everything is racist, and this one might take the cake. For most, this famous song sparks sweet nostalgic joy of happy childhood summers. However, its origins are rotten as Hell. _____________ 2-Minute Black History is produced by PushBlack, the nation's largest non-profit Black media company. PushBlack exists to amplify the stories of Black history you didn't learn in sch...

If it’s one thing whites will do, it’s steal something of ours and try to claim it as their own. But Sesame Street was explicitly made for us. Here’s the truth they don’t want you to know. _____________ 2-Minute Black History is produced by PushBlack, the nation's largest non-profit Black media company. PushBlack exists to amplify the stories of Black history you didn't learn in school. You make P...

From westward expansion to the southernmost gulf coast, this country romanticizes the “pioneering spirit.” But there was a larger, more violent expansion hidden away by history. It started with seven horrific words, and Black people still suffer their power today. _____________ 2-Minute Black History is produced by PushBlack, the nation's largest non-profit Black media company. PushBlack exists to...

It was in Plainfield, NJ, in 1971 where our guest - Ashanti Alston - joined The Black Panther Party, radicalized in the wake of the 1967 Newark Riots and Malcolm X’s assassination years earlier. Ashanti would begin his life as an anarchist on that day, and it has guided his every step – through the Panther Party, then the Black Liberation Army, his incarceration, and his work honoring the sacrific...

This father’s family road trip had been going just fine until racists tried to run them off the road. No matter what, he promised himself, this would NEVER happen again – so he decided to do something about it. _____________ 2-Minute Black History is produced by PushBlack, the nation's largest non-profit Black media company. PushBlack exists to amplify the stories of Black history you didn't learn...

Harriet Tubman spent plenty of nights beneath the North Star, taking her freedom by any means necessary. But it’s this hidden talent she used to liberate herself and hundreds of others. _____________ 2-Minute Black History is produced by PushBlack, the nation's largest non-profit Black media company. PushBlack exists to amplify the stories of Black history you didn't learn in school. You make Push...

It was a breaking point. They spilled out onto the streets, the bridge, the neighborhoods. And when they climbed onto the train tracks, risking everything, who would have known history would repeat itself only 36 years later? _____________ 2-Minute Black History is produced by PushBlack, the nation's largest non-profit Black media company. PushBlack exists to amplify the stories of Black history y...

Dr. Ossian Sweet once said he'd rather die like a man than live like a coward. Soon, however, his words would be put to the test. _____________ 2-Minute Black History is produced by PushBlack, the nation's largest non-profit Black media company. PushBlack exists to amplify the stories of Black history you didn't learn in school. You make PushBlack happen with your contributions at BlackHistoryYear...

The first great Black filmmaker Oscar Micheaux inspired the 70s revolution of urban dramas and comedies that served as the launchpad for the gritty hip-hop action pieces and soulful family romances of the 80s and 90s. Today, the Black experience is the face of billion-dollar movie franchises and multiple award-winning and groundbreaking series. Is this a Black Renaissance, or is it just dues being...

Like the sun, our people radiate with power! So when her son doubted his Blackness, this superhero mother stepped in – and created something legendary! _____________ 2-Minute Black History is produced by PushBlack, the nation's largest non-profit Black media company. PushBlack exists to amplify the stories of Black history you didn't learn in school. You make PushBlack happen with your contributio...

This tiny three-letter word was forbidden in so many of our families. Saying “lie” was like swearing. But there’s a reason we were raised to never say it. _____________ 2-Minute Black History is produced by PushBlack, the nation's largest non-profit Black media company. PushBlack exists to amplify the stories of Black history you didn't learn in school. You make PushBlack happen with your contribu...

A white truck pulled into her Boston housing project — but it wasn’t selling ice cream. Instead, it was a tobacco company giving menthol cigarette samples to children! And Black communities are still suffering deadly consequences of their secret, targeted marketing. _____________ 2-Minute Black History is produced by PushBlack, the nation's largest non-profit Black media company. PushBlack exists...

Whooping our children has always been assumed to be part of Black culture. We do it because we love them – so we can ensure they learn to “act right.” But what if whoopings actually teach our children? _____________ 2-Minute Black History is produced by PushBlack, the nation's largest non-profit Black media company. PushBlack exists to amplify the stories of Black history you didn't learn in schoo...

They say urban legends aren’t real and are only cautionary tales to keep unruly children at bay, but there are elements underlying these stories that are far more terrifying than any monster or ghoul. The biggest horror? We, as Black people, have learned to fear ourselves. In 2022, Jay sat down with Dr. Kinitra Brooks to guide this conversation. Beyond being a horror scholar, she is a horror fan....

When you think of the Easter holiday, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Is it Black history? It should be. Here’s why the holiday is one of the Blackest celebrations of the year. _____________ 2-Minute Black History is produced by PushBlack, the nation's largest non-profit Black media company. PushBlack exists to amplify the stories of Black history you didn't learn in school. You make Pu...

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think about eggnog? Here’s why you might want to start considering the drink a symbol of unity for Black people everywhere. _____________ 2-Minute Black History is produced by PushBlack, the nation's largest non-profit Black media company. PushBlack exists to amplify the stories of Black history you didn't learn in school. You make PushBlack happe...

When slavery ended in Bermuda, Black folks had a plan for the following year. Now that they were paid employees, it was time to regain their power from white supremacy, and they did it in the most genius way. _____________ 2-Minute Black History is produced by PushBlack, the nation's largest non-profit Black media company. PushBlack exists to amplify the stories of Black history you didn't learn i...

Host Darren Wallace, with our producer Len riding shotgun, sits down with poet, educator, and former Philadelphia Poet Laureate Yolanda Wisher to talk poetry. Together, they dive into the historical and cultural significance of griots and spoken word, revisit the impact of “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” and reflect on Kendrick Lamar’s Pulitzer Prize win. Yolanda also shares how her work—t...