Learn About Black History With This Free Toolbox
If the past month has taught us anything, it is that many Americans have a long way to go in studying the history of blacks and systemic racism in this country. It may not be our fault that we were taught a shitty version of American history in school, in which we glorify white historical figures who were racists and pretended that racism disappeared when Martin Luther King Jr. told us about his dream. But, as adults, we are absolutely to blame for the fact that we are not engaged in self-education now.
Fortunately, there is a lot of good, accurate, and important content that we can read, watch and learn from. And even more fortunate is that there are people like Tyree Boyd Pates who are willing to oversee it and deliver it directly to us.
Boyd Pates, a community historian and museum curator, recently told the Los Angeles Times that he created an anti-racist toolkit he called the Freedom Papers to send him to social media networks and their allies so they can better understand black politics. upbringing.
“From a cross-generational perspective, this generation has a toolbox in its toolbox — technology that was not available to the previous generation,” he said. “My generation is actively rethinking the approach to challenging white supremacy, anticipating what it might look like outside of the politics of respectability to be considered more human.”
On over 20 pages, Boyd-Pates has prepared a list of important information for us, including:
- Chronology of major milestones in black history
- Influential speeches
- Books and Articles
- Music playlist
- Movies
- Recommendations on how to become an ally
You can download the toolkit Boyd-Pates’ by Freedom Papers here and visit his web site to subscribe to his newsletter to get more of his work.