Black History: Invitation To A Mini-Course

Look Inside An AP African-American History Classroom

As a result of my insufficient education in Black History though I was teaching social studies, I collected about 225 articles on the topic and read at least a dozen books. I’ve shared some of that knowledge here on Substack.

38 articles (click to peruse).

I’ve posted the most interesting and important articles for paying subscribers and set up a Google Classroom to provide a structure for learning, discovery, discussions, and assessments. (Subscribers who already pay $5 a month or $60 a year will have access to the full collection.)

Are you interested? Post in the comments below.

This is a vibrant time for African American Studies on the international, national, state, and local levels. New narratives and fresh voices are coming forward. To pay no attention, to be content with what we learned in high school, is to fall into cultural illiteracy. In high school, for example, I learned only about Harriet Tubman, Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver, and Marian Anderson. I didn’t even know who Frederick Douglass was until college when I heard Howard Lee, the Black mayor of Chapel Hill, recite without notes “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”

Many Americans, including former president Donald Trump, haven’t bothered to learn much about Douglass. He’s “an example of somebody who’s done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more,” Trump famously said.

Black history is not just about slavery, suffering, and grievance. For all students, regardless of race, it’s about the meaning of America.