Black History Month

[Content Note: White supremacy.]

Today starts Black History Month, and I wanted to open a space for people to share resources—books, films, interviews, music, collections of poetry, art, blogs, speeches, links to events, anything explicitly associated with Black History Month or any content created by black people that has been meaningful to you.

Head to comments with your recommendations!

As a white USian who grew up in a predominantly non-black community, black history, especially as told by black people, was largely concealed from me. What black history I did get, at school and at home, was largely filtered through the lens of white supremacy and white privilege.

I reached 17 without ever encountering the idea that that was a problem.

It is a problem in the historical record, and it is a problem in the record that is being created today. An overwhelmingly white media gets to shape stories, casting black people victimized by white supremacist violence as thugs and demons, black people oppressed by white supremacist neglect and exploitation as moochers and takers, black activists agitating for justice as divisive and dangerous.

The black perspective, the truth, was and is still being written out of history documented and controlled by white people.

Black history is living history. To mark the beginning of this month, I want to reaffirm my commitment to supporting and amplifying the voices of black people who are telling their stories, to regard them as authorities on their own lives and lived experiences, to listen to them and believe them, to respect black people as the definitive sources of their own history.