The Black History You Weren't Taught In School

February 3, 2022 11:51 AM

Black History, Black Freedom, and Black Love is a masterclass from Masterclass -- streaming free for Black History Month. Instructors are Jelani Cobb, Cornel West, Nikole Hannah-Jones, Kimberle Williams Crenshaw, John McWhorter, Sherilyn Ifill, and Angela Davis.
posted by dobbs (8 comments total)

Thank you.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:43 PM on February 3, 2022 [1 favorite]

Wow. I am usually much more interested in learning via text rather than video, but I am very excited about the prospect of seeing these specific individuals sharing the essentials of their extraordinary scholarship - seeing their faces, hearing their voices.

Good for MasterClass for making this free to everyone (even if only for a few weeks).

Thank you for sharing this with us, It's Raining Florence Henderson - I am grateful to you for the opportunity to watch this class.
posted by kristi at 1:24 PM on February 3, 2022

All credit goes to dobbs.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:38 PM on February 3, 2022

The headline of this post may make some, especially those in blue states or outside the US, wonder what was the Black history that we WERE taught in school. Well, if you went to 7th grade in Virginia between 1950 and 1970, you were taught this:

"Life among the Negroes of Virginia in slavery times was generally happy. The Negroes went about in a cheerful manner making a living for themselves and for those for whom they worked. … They were not worried by the furious arguments going on between Northerners and Southerners over what should be done with them. … The negroes remained loyal to their white mistresses even after President Lincoln promised in his Emancipation Proclamation that the slaves would be freed.”

From this timely Washington Post article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/02/01/racist-virginia-textbooks-history-youngkin/
posted by pH Indicating Socks at 1:55 PM on February 3, 2022 [1 favorite]

I've dived into this, and it is really, really well done. And, already, there are parts that have made me angry--in the good way. I thought I was a reasonably well-read, college educated white dude, but holy fuck there is so much I didn't know. Reminds me of this tweet: "Studying history will sometimes make you uncomfortable. Studying history will sometimes make you feel deeply upset. Studying history will sometimes make you feel extremely angry. If studying history always makes you feel proud and happy, you probably aren’t studying history."

Thank you so much for sharing this. I'm signal boosting wherever I can.
posted by xedrik at 4:03 PM on February 3, 2022 [6 favorites]

It looks like each "class" is segmented into several individual videos -- I like this setup.
posted by gimonca at 8:50 AM on February 4, 2022

Also available on Amazon Prime, where I don't see any mention of its free availability being limited to February.
posted by neuron at 10:32 AM on February 6, 2022

I am enjoying these - thank you!
posted by joannemerriam at 10:59 AM on February 16, 2022