#BlackHistoryMonth has too often been reduced to lists of Black Firsts (with no mention of the social context these people and their accomplishments came out of), MLK quotes stripped from the life, action and politics of the man who produced them, and a version of history that just doesn’t serve the needs of Black children, Black people or the world. Freedom work is not mere intellectual exercise. It doesn’t matter how woke, right, or witty we (or our hashtags) can be in the face of material degradation, ongoing terror, and blinding mythology.
We owe it to our future to do differently. This is just as much a call to ourselves as it is an invitation to you. Join us outside of the mainstream.
These aren’t NYT Best Sellers, they probably won’t end up in your book club list (unless you rock with @nonamereads) and as the world is currently organized, they never would be. The point is to point us all into new awareness if we’re unfamiliar, and into deeper everyday action if we are familiar.
Cop these. But not from Amazon. Take care.
