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Black History Month

Celebrating Black culture & confronting racism

Old pirates, yes, they rob I
Sold I to the merchant ships
Minutes after they took I
From the bottomless pit
But my hand was made strong
By the hand of the Almighty
We forward in this generation
Triumphantly

-

Bob Marley
Bob Marley & The Wailers
"Redemption Song"
Uprising (Island Records, 1979)

Black people have resisted oppression, injustice, fear, and persecution from the days of the first slave ships' arrival upon these shores. Slavery was met with many forms of resistance, from outright rebellion to escape (Underground Railroad) to abolition, politics, and, ultimately, civil war. For every triumph, there has been backlash from those in power. Jim Crow laws were challenged in courts, in Washington, D.C. and state capitals through the country, in media and the arts, and the courts of public opinion.

Economic discrimination and hardships were countered with the creation of Black institutions of learning (HBCUs), finance, business, and agriculture. Black Power organizations were created and grew as a challenge to medical, environmental, political, and structural racism and bias.

The resistance today continues through social media, encompasses the entire world, and shows no signs of diminishing or slowing down.

Resistance Takes Many Forms

Resistance Films & Documentaries

Black Power: A British Story of Resistance

Charting the period between 1961 and 1971, this is a searing account of how members of the British Black Power movement challenged police oppression and political prejudice.

Interview with James Horton, Benjamin Banneker Professor of American Studies and History, George Washington University

James Horton is interviewed about life in 1830 in Washington DC, the vulnerability of free blacks, Solomon Northup, petitions against slavery, the Amistad case, harassment of abolitionists, and the rise of free black communities.

American Reckoning

An unsolved 1960s murder reveals an untold story of the civil rights movement and Black resistance. With Retro Report, the film draws on rarely seen footage filmed more than 50 years ago in Natchez, MS, and follows one family's search for justice.

Richard Wright: Black Boy

This program presents a biography of Richard Wright, author of Black Boy and Native Son, taking viewers from his impoverished childhood to his involvement in Chicago’s Black Renaissance, the Communist Party, and the witch-hunts of the McCarthy era, to his exile and death in Paris.

The Negro Ensemble Company

The Negro Ensemble Company was founded in 1967 by actor/playwright Douglas Turner Ward, actor Robert Hooks, and theater manager Gerald Krone, with the stated goal of creating "a Theater of Excellence concentrating primarily on themes of black life."

1 Angry Black Man

Mike Anderson is a senior at a liberal arts school. Mike is feeling sadness. He's feeling isolated. He's feeling Angry.

Resistance Through Media (The Revolution Will Be Televised)

The Daily Show Between the Scenes - "Reparations and White Privilege."

For anyone confused about reparations. Trevor answers a question from an audience member.

ABC News: Historic vote on reparations for Black Americans in California

A California reparations task force voted that only descendants of Black slaves who were living in the United States during the 19th century would receive compensation.

Demonstrators nationwide peacefully protest the police beating of Tyre Nichols

Today’s marches followed nationwide protests on Friday night immediately after the video of police beating Tyre Nichols was released. In Memphis, demonstrators brought traffic to a standstill on Interstate 55 for hours as they continued to demand action and accountability. Memphis police announced it would permanently deactivate the Scorpion unit. The Shelby County sheriff also announced two deputies “have been relieved of duty,” pending an internal investigation based on their actions when they arrived at the scene with Nichols.

Being Black is a Pre-Existing Health Condition - Ryan Ivory - TEDxDayton

2020 drew a sharp eye toward long-existing systems of racial inequity in the United States, especially in health care. As a Licensed Social Worker, Ryan Ivory has been on the front lines of seeing racial inequities play out in health care. Ryan’s talk details these experiences and she challenges all of us to realize that being Black is a pre-existing health condition.

How COVID-19 is highlighting racial disparities in Americans' health

The coronavirus pandemic has shed new light on racial disparities in American health outcomes. Economic disadvantage is one reason Black people in the United States are on average less healthy than white people -- but there are other causes, including the ongoing stress of systemic racism. Paul Solman reports in the second of a two-part Race Matters series.

Combating Racism and Place-ism in Medicine - J. Nwando Olayiwola - TEDxKingLincolnBronzeville

Dr. Nwando Olayiwola explains how the medical profession does harm to patients by perpetuating racism & committing place-ism, ignoring place & health connections.

The Power of the Black Experience in the Classroom - Keith Mayes - TEDxMinneapolis

Keith Mayes makes a compelling case for how the black experience in the classroom could have remarkable impact.

What Critical Race Theory Actually Is - and Isn't

Watch historian and author Ibram X. Kendi expertly break down critical race theory and its common misconceptions.

Creator of Term 'Critical Race Theory' Kimberle Crenshaw Explains What It Really Is

‘Critical Race Theory’ is explained as neither Marxist nor racist by its leading scholar, Kimberlé Crenshaw, who co-developed this framework of study and coined this term.

How critical race theory laws are impacting Texas schools - KVUE

Critical Race Theory isn't taught in public schools, but new laws affect how racism is being talked about.

Resistance Through Grassroots, Politics, and Law

Fiction & Non-Fiction From HCPL

Alabama V. King

The defense lawyer for Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, the Selma marchers, and other civil rights heroes reveals the true story of the historic trial that made Dr. King a national hero. Fred D. Gray was just twenty-four years old when he became the defense lawyer for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a young minister who had become the face of the bus boycott that had rocked the city of Montgomery, Alabama. In this incredible history, Gray takes us behind the scenes of that landmark case. 

The Art of Protest: Culture and Activism From the Civil Rights Movement to the Present

Now thoroughly revised and updated, this new edition of T. V. Reed's acclaimed work offers engaging accounts of ten key progressive movements in postwar America, from the African American struggle for civil rights beginning in the 1950s to Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter in the twenty-first century.  

Parable of the Sower

Lauren Olamina and her family live in one of the only safe neighborhoods remaining on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Behind the walls of their defended enclave, Lauren's father, a preacher, and a handful of other citizens try to salvage what remains of a culture that has been destroyed by drugs, war, and chronic shortages of water, gasoline, and more. 

Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America

Published from 1936 to 1966, the Green Book was hailed as the "black travel guide to America." At that time, it was very dangerous and difficult for African-Americans to travel because black travelers couldn't eat, sleep, or buy gas at most white-owned businesses. The Green Book listed hotels, restaurants, gas stations, and other businesses that were safe for black travelers. It was a resourceful and innovative solution to a horrific problem. 

When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir

In 2013, when Trayvon Martin's killer went free, Patrisse's outrage led her to co-found Black Lives Matter with Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi. Condemned as terrorists and as a threat to America, these loving women founded a hashtag that birthed the movement to demand accountability from the authorities who continually turn a blind eye to the injustices inflicted upon people of Black and Brown skin. 

Zone One

A pandemic has devastated the planet, sorting humanity into two types: the uninfected and the infected, the living and the living dead. After the worst of the plague is over, armed forces stationed in Chinatown's Fort Wonton have successfully reclaimed the island south of Canal Street—aka Zone One. Zone One unfolds over three surreal days in which Spitz is occupied with the mundane mission of straggler removal, the rigors of Post-Apocalyptic Stress Disorder (PASD), and the impossible task of coming to terms with a fallen world. 

From the Ground Up: Environmental Racism and the Rise of the Environmental Justice Movement

When Bill Clinton signed an Executive Order on Environmental Justice in 1994, the phenomenon of environmental racism--the disproportionate impact of environmental hazards, particularly toxic waste dumps and polluting factories, on people of color and low-income communities--gained unprecedented recognition. Behind the President's signature, however, lies a remarkable tale of grassroots activism and political mobilization. 

Cultivating Food Justice: Race, Class, and Sustainability

Documents how racial and social inequalities are built into our food system, and how communities are creating environmentally sustainable and socially just alternatives. Popularized by such best-selling authors as Michael Pollan, Barbara Kingsolver, and Eric Schlosser, a growing food movement urges us to support sustainable agriculture by eating fresh food produced on local family farms. But many low-income neighborhoods and communities of color have been systematically deprived of access to healthy and sustainable food. 

The Politics of Voter Suppression: Defending and Expanding Americans' Right to Vote

Wang examines the history of how U.S. election reforms have been manipulated for partisan advantage and establishes a new framework for analyzing current laws and policies. The tactics that have been employed to suppress voting in recent elections are not novel, she finds, but rather build upon the strategies used by a variety of actors going back nearly a century and a half. Wang argues that activities that suppress voting are almost always illegitimate, while reforms that increase participation are nearly always legitimate.

The Fifth Season

This is the way the world ends...for the last time.

It starts with the great red rift across the heart of the world's sole continent, spewing ash that blots out the sun. It starts with death, with a murdered son and a missing daughter. It starts with betrayal, and long dormant wounds rising up to fester.
This is the Stillness, a land long familiar with catastrophe, where the power of the earth is wielded as a weapon. And where there is no mercy.