Black History Month

In America February is Black History Month , a time to honor Black Americans, and their contributions to the country. It’s also a time to educate oneself on events in the past, and to learn about and engage in antiracism initiatives. To be clear, despite what many headlines and politicians tell you, Black history is American history.

Now that the month is over, I thought I would share the things I’ve been doing, watching, and or reading this past month. These are wonderful resources, and can be used year-round:

*Movement 10K-This is an anti-racism initiative created by the city of Indianapolis. Movement 10K is a class of sorts full of articles, podcast audio clips, and YouTube videos to watch. It’s a self-guided class; participants can go at their own pace. The content can make people feel uncomfortable. Therefore, it’s best to do at your own pace, to walk away from for a time, if the content is too intense. I’m on the first leg of the journey, about to complete my first kilometer.
https://mvmt10k.org/

*Descendant-This documentary, introduces the world to the descendants of the enslaved people on the Clotilda, the last slave ship to the enter the United States in 1860. At the start of the documentary, the Clotilda had not been found. Then in 2019, mid production on the movie, the ship was found! The impact of the ship being found forever changed the lives of the descendants. This amazing documentary is now streaming on Netflix.
https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/descendant-documentary
 
*The 1619 Project-This project, which was once a special feature in the New York Times, and a bestselling book, is now a documentary series on Hulu. The author of the project, Nikole Hannah Jones, has created this series, told in 6 parts:
 
“Democracy”-“Race”-“Music”-“Capitalism”-“Fear”-“Justice”
 
I will tell you that there are stories/images/videos throughout the documentary series that are disturbing to witness. That being said, how can we know the horrors of history if we can’t bear witness?
 
I personally loved the music episode. The history of black music in America is the history of America itself! Watching the episode, I realized how much music I love that isn’t in my personal library! I’m working on adding several songs to my personal library right now!
 https://www.hulu.com/series/the-1619-project-7ba3407a-299c-4a10-8310-bbcdd6ab4653
 

*The Hair Tales-Executive Producers Oprah Winfrey and Tracee Ellis Ross present a 6-part series about black women and their hair. Ross, the host of the series, spoke these words about the project: “Hair Tales is using hair as a metaphor to understand and be with the humanity of us as black women.”
 
There are celebrity guests in every episode, as well as women who have honest, vulnerable discussions about their hair experiences. This documentary series is now streaming Hulu.
https://press.hulu.com/shows/the-hair-tales/
 
*The Woman King-Producer Viola Davis stars in this true story about the Agojie, a regiment of warrior women in Africa. If you’ve seen the Marvel films “Black Panther”, “Infinity War” and “End Game”, it’s clear that they based the Dora Milaje on the Agojie warriors. The Agojie women were an elite deadly force for their king. 

The movie takes place during the 1840’s, which is of course a time of enslavement. There are images of people being held in captivity, before leaving the continent, which can be disturbing. This is a beautiful film that is rated PG-13. Violence in this film is implied and inferred, and not shown. It didn’t receive one Oscar nomination, which is an insult. The Woman King is now streaming on Netflix.
https://www.netflix.com/title/80218506
 
*United Shades of America-Comedian W. Kamau Bell hosts this series, which has seven seasons in all. The premise of the show is Bell educating himself on parts of America that he’s unfamiliar with. He’s covered a variety of topics over the seven years of the show. The show has received several nominations and has won several Emmy awards. All seven seasons of the show are now streaming on Discovery Plus.
https://www.discoveryplus.com/show/united-shades-of-america-us
 
*Hungry for Answers- Chef Caroline Randall Williams hosts this show, which delves into several culinary topics. There are 4 episodes in the series:
 
“Who Gets to Cook Black Food?”-“Is Jack Daniels Black?”-
“Do You Know Sugar’s Dirty Little Secret?”-“Where Are All the Black Farmers?” 

This is an amazing series, which introduces topics I never knew about, and poses questions I'd never even thought of. Now streaming on HBO Max.
https://www.hbomax.com/series/urn:hbo:series:GY9GzcQKvWK-1mgEAAA0X

*Black Panther: Wakanda Forever-This film is the sequel to the mega hit Black Panther. The star of Panther, Chadwick Boseman, passed away in 2020. The filmmakers pay homage to Boseman, and Wakanda mourns the Black Panther, King T’Challa. All eyes are on Shuri, the princess of the royal family, sister to King T’Challa. It’s a wonderful film of female empowerment. Now streaming on Disney Plus.
https://www.disneyplus.com/movies/black-panther-wakanda-forever/7MAONYZ92wDT

*Till-In 1955, Emmett Till was murdered on a family trip to Money, Mississippi. He was taken from his Uncle’s home and beaten to death. Till tells the story of Emmett through the eyes of his mother, Mamie Till Mobley. The film is written from her perspective. Her advocacy upon her son’s death changed America forever.

Danielle Deadwyler plays Mamie Till Emmett’s mother. Her performance is truly incredible. Also in the cast is Whoopi Goldberg, who is an Executive Producer on the film. 

This movie will be hard for many to watch. That being said, I feel it’s an important movie to watch. We must bear witness to avoid repeating the horrors of the past.

Sadly, like many other worthy films this year, “Till” didn’t receive one Oscar nomination.
“Till” is available to rent or purchase on every streaming platform; it’s also available on DVD and Blu Ray.

https://www.mgmstudios.com/till/

That’s the latest material I’ve watched/read/listened to this month. Again, these projects/resources are available all year round. Happy Black History Month!