TED-Ed
TED-Ed: One of the most "dangerous" men in American history | Keenan Norris
In 1830, David Walker sewed a pamphlet into the lining of a coat. The volume was thin enough to be hidden, but its content was far from insubstantial. At the time, many members of the US government considered this pamphlet to be one of...
Crash Course
Political Thought in the Harlem Renaissance: Crash Course Black American History
When we think about the Harlem Renaissance, the arts come immediately to mind. But new political theories were also blossoming during this time. We'v talked about Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois, but today we'll get into some...
Crash Course
Moonlight: Crash Course Film Criticism
Moonlight is a hard-edged yet beautifully made story about a black American dealing with his sexuality in a sometimes unforgiving and violent world. Its director, Barry Jenkins, uses every trick in the filmmaking book to put us in the...
Crash Course
Randolph, Rustin, and the Origins of the March on Washington: Crash Course Black American History 32
The March on Washington of 1963 is an enduring and widely-known event of the Civil Rights movement. But the March has its roots in an earlier planned March on Washington that didn't happen. In 1941, labor leader A. Philip Randolph began...
Crash Course
Los Angeles Uprisings: Crash Course Black American History #45
In this episode of Black American History, Clint Smith teaches you about the complicated history of racial tension in South Central Los Angeles. You'll learn about the Watts Rebellion of 1965, a 6-day uprising in response to police...
Crash Course
School Segregation and Brown v Board: Crash Course Black American History
In 1955, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that public schools should be racially integrated, and overturned the separate but equal doctrine established in Plessy v Ferguson decades before. This was made possible by a concerted legal...
TED Talks
TED: A blueprint for reparations in the US | William "Sandy" Darity
With clarity and insight, economist and author William "Sandy" Darity discusses how the grievous injustice of slavery in the US led to the immense wealth gap that currently exists between Black and white Americans. He explains how...
Curated Video
Jesse Jackson: Crash Course Black American History #44
Today, Clint Smith is teaching you about the Civil Rights activist and Icon, Reverend Jesse Jackson. Jackson began his career working with Martin Luther King in the 1960s, and in the 1970s he founded PUSH, an organization to advance the...
Crash Course
The Tuskegee Experiment: Crash Course Black American History
From 1932 to 1972, the United States Public Health Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention operated an extremely unethical medical experiment on the effects of outcomes of untreated syphilis. Hundreds of poor Black men...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Notes of a native son: the world according to James Baldwin - Christina Greer
James Baldwin was an American novelist and social critic whose essays in “Notes of a Native Son” explored race, sex and class distinctions. -- In the 1960s, the FBI amassed almost 2,000 documents in an investigation into one of America’s...
Crash Course
Elizabeth Key Crash Course Black American History
The legal system can seem like a complicated tangle of arcane rules and loopholes, and it can sometimes seem like it is designed to confuse. But it is possible, with the right application, for the legal system to rectify injustices....
Crash Course
Shirley Chisholm: Crash Course Black American History #43
In 1972, Shirley Chisholm ran for president of the United States of America as a Democrat. She didn't win, but this was not the beginning or the end of her career in politics. She held a congressional seat in the New York delegation for...
Crash Course
The War on Drugs: Crash Course Black American History #42
The War on Drugs is a decades-long United States policy intended to curb illegal drug use and trafficking. Long story short: it has not worked to reduce drug use or trade, and the policy has had devastating effects, especially on...
TED Talks
TED: How to build an equitable and just climate future | Peggy Shepard
Everyone has the right to a clean environment -- but major disparities exist when it comes to who faces the consequences of pollution. Environmental justice leader Peggy Shepard points to the disproportionate impact that hazardous...
TED Talks
TED: How to reduce the wealth gap between Black and white Americans | Kedra Newsom Reeves
The racial wealth gap in the United States is shocking: white families have a median wealth nearly 10 times greater than that of Black families. How did we get here, and how can we stop the gap from growing? Wealth equity strategist...
Crash Course
The Montgomery Bus Boycott: Crash Course Black American History
For 381 days in 1955 and 1956, the Black citizens of Montgomery, Alabama boycotted the city bus system. Black riders had been mistreated on public transit all over the country for decades, and the national coverage of the Montgomery Bus...
Crash Course
Women and the Black Power Movement: Crash Course Black American History #40
Women have been a powerful (and largely underappreciated) force in the movement for Black equality in the United States. The Black Power Movement is no exception to that trend. Today, we'll learn about how women contributed to several...
Crash Course
Hurricane Katrina: Crash Course Black American History #49
In this episode, Clint Smith details his experience as a teenager in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina made landfall in 2005. The widespread devastation of Hurricane Katrina was a result of faulty levees and a fumbled response by FEMA,...
Crash Course
The Transatlantic Slave Trade Crash Course Black American History
Today we're learning about the Transatlantic Slave Trade, which brought millions of captive Africans to the Americas between the 16th and 19th centuries, with the largest number of people trafficked between 1700 and 1808. We'll look at...
Crash Course
World War II: Black American History
Black Americans have long fought in America's wars, very often fighting for a country that doesn't always fight for them. Today we'll learn about the experience of Black Americans in World War II. We'll look at the ways Black men and...
Crash Course
The American Revolution Crash Course Black American History
When we talk about the American Revolution and Revolutionary War, the discussion often involves lofty ideals like liberty, and freedom, and justice. The Declaration of Independence even opens with the idea that "all men are created...
Crash Course
The Red Summer of 1919: Crash Course Black American History
During the Red Summer of 1919 violence against Black people broke out across the United States. Black people and neighborhoods were attacked in Washington DC, Chicago, Tulsa, and many other cities and towns across the country. Post-war...
Crash Course
The Great Depression: Crash Course Black American History
During economic crises, marginalized communities are more susceptible to the harms and struggle that come with these downturns. Today we'll talk about the Great Depression, which lasted from 1929 until the US entered World War II. This...
Crash Course
Arts and Letters of the Harlem Renaissance: Crash Course Black American History
The Harlem Renaissance was one of the richest, most vibrant, and most culturally generative artistic periods in American history and the work that emerged from that period continues to shape the landscape of American arts and letters...