We the (Black) People

Happy Women's History Month! When the history of feminism in America is told, it is usually remembered as a White womens' struggle beginning at the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention and ending with the 19th amendment in 1920. What this history misses is the separate struggle Black women faced at the intersection of race and sex. That history is the subject of this episode and Vanguard: How Black Women...

Happy Black History Month! In the spirit of Negro History Week, (the precursor to Black History Month) I am spending this episode combating anti-blackness in high school education. Specifically, Matthew Vriesman, creator of Antiracist APUSH , and I discuss why Black people really joined the Democratic Party in the 1930s and 40s. Contrary to the widely used American Pageant textbook it was not simp...

Honestly, the COVID vaccine makes me nervous. As terrible as COVID has been to Black people, the American medical system has a long history of using Black bodies without consent and shutting us out of medicine. This history informs how we see the medical system, including the new vaccine. Starting from the fact that both science and medicine have a racist history in America, I break down some of t...

In January 2021, the question still persists, why do race riots occur and what effect do they have? And now there is the added question of does the answer differ if these are Black-initiated versus White-initiated riots? These are the driving questions of part two of examining the history of American race riots. 00:37 - Race War and the Red Summer (1898-1921). I open by clarifying the definition o...

The events at the Capitol on January 6th, 2021 were wild to see, but not unprecedented in American history. White mob violence in city and state capitals when White people become dissatisfied with politics is a part of American history. It also parallels America's present in many ways. This episode focuses on two cases of coups in America, one in New Orleans (and Colfax), Louisiana in 1873-1874, a...

Why do race riots occur and are they effective? This is part one of an examination of the history of American race riots to find out. 01:35 - I begin with a discussion of vigilantism with my college friend Jahne. We both took a class called The American Vigilante and understanding vigilantism is a helpful tool for understanding riots. 04:39 - The Pre-Civil War Era. Looking back to Force and Freedo...

How do people whose voices are ignored make themselves heard and force America to include them? Is violence ever an effective means? My guest, Dr. Kellie Carter Jackson - an incredibly cool person, her Twitter handle is @kcarterjackson - sought the answer by looking to the original abolitionists. I'm talking about the Black people fighting for freedom and equality under the constant, violent threa...

In the episode Who Freed the Slaves? I called Abraham Lincoln flaky and sped through the election of 1864 because, whatever the outcome, Black people had already ensured that the slavery status quo was over. Yet, Northerners believed this election was very important, and it came in the middle of a Civil War. Here is Dr. William's deep dive into an election about the Union, Emancipation, and social...

The time that a legitimately elected government in North Carolina was violently driven out by white supremacists is an event of critical importance to America's history and present. It echoes in many more subtle types of racism that we see today, as Mrs. Wood and I discuss in this promised bonus clip.

Since I graduated high school, my Advanced Placement US history (APUSH) teacher added sections to class about slave self-emancipation, mass incarceration, and the racism it the modern welfare system. And, this is the same teacher who showed us a video denying that Columbus discovered America because there were already people here the first week of class. She also helped my get my AP European Histo...

I am launching my podcast by addressing a question that frequently gets two competing answers. Most high school textbooks (and even a quick Google search) say Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves. Yet since the end of the Civil War, Black people and scholars have argued that the slaves freed themselves. Even with compelling evidence, the White-savior narrative has remained the dominant one. I guess re...

Hi everyone! My name is Brooklyn and I just graduated with a History BA into the craziness that is 2020 without a clear idea of what to do next. Yet, I have long seen and wanted to share the importance of history with people. Especially since society often undervalues history, particularly mine as a Black American. There are so many amazing stories featuring Black people in America's history that...