Where to start on history: what we’ve written, the numbers and words to know, what to do this month, and the people, organizations and newsrooms worth following.
The Basics
Overview The inequality we see today was built on purpose, through laws and choices that are well documented. Knowing that history helps us name what is happening now and argue for what should come next. It also means honoring the people who fought back.
77% of Black adults say descendants of enslaved people should be repaid in some way, compared with 18% of white adults. (Pew Research Center (2022))
Only 23% of Black adults say they learned most of what they know about Black history in K-12 school; 43% learned it from family and friends. (Pew Research Center (2022))
Anti-Blackness — Prejudice and discrimination against Black people, reinforced by social norms and institutions.
White Supremacy — The belief that white people are superior, and the systems built on that belief that keep a racial hierarchy in place.
Systemic Racism — Racial inequality built into laws, institutions and practices, separate from any one person’s attitudes.
Take Action
Three things you can do this month.
Ask your rep to back H.R. 40. H.R. 40 would create a federal commission to study slavery's harms and propose reparations. It was reintroduced by Rep. Ayanna Pressley in January 2025 and is waiting in the House Judiciary Committee. Call script: "I'm a constituent, and I'm asking you to cosponsor H.R. 40 and push for a hearing."
Give to The Descendants Project. This Black descendant-led group in Louisiana protects the history, land and health of communities in the River Parishes, where former plantations sit beside petrochemical plants.
Transcribe Freedmen's Bureau records. Volunteer online with the Smithsonian to type up handwritten records from just after slavery. Each page you finish makes it easier for Black families to trace their ancestors.
Memorial Day is one example of how the whitewashing of U.S. history enables the minimizing of the contributions and injustice of Black people in favor of whiteness.
De facto residential segregation is increasing today, creating segregated hospitals, schools, and transportation systems—the very things permitted by Plessy v. Ferguson.
These groups are led by people of color and work on history every day. Follow them for updates and ways to help.
ASALH Carter G. Woodson's group, founders of Black History Month. Visit their website, and follow @asalhbhm on Instagram to get updates in your newsfeed.
Densho Preserves and shares the history of Japanese American WWII incarceration. Visit their website, and follow @denshoproject on Instagram to get updates in your newsfeed.
National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition Documents boarding school history and pushes for truth and healing. Visit their website, and follow @nabshc on Instagram to get updates in your newsfeed.
People to Follow
Organizers, scholars and journalists who know this topic. Follow them to keep learning.
Keisha N. Blain Historian, Brown University. She writes about Black women who shaped human rights and freedom movements, and connects that history to today's news. Follow @keishanblain on Instagram.
Kellie Carter Jackson Historian, Wellesley College; podcast host. She explains how Black Americans resisted slavery and why that history matters now, in plain and lively language. Follow @kelliecarterjackson on Instagram.
Hasan Kwame Jeffries Historian, Ohio State University. He helped redesign the National Civil Rights Museum and makes the case for teaching the hard parts of U.S. history. Follow @profjeffries on Instagram.
Independent Media
Independent newsrooms and newsletters that cover history often. Read and donate if you can!
Civil War Memory. Historian Kevin Levin on Confederate monuments and the Lost Cause myth.
Read, Watch, Listen
A book, a film and a podcast by creators of color to go deeper.
Read: How the Word Is Passed by Clint Smith. Smith visits plantations, prisons and monuments to show how places tell, or hide, the truth about slavery.
Watch: The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones (host and executive producer) and Roger Ross Williams. A six-part series on how slavery's legacy shapes democracy, music, money and justice today.
Listen: Seizing Freedom by Dr. Kidada E. Williams (VPM). A historian tells stories of Black Americans fighting for freedom, often in their own words from the archive.
Talk About It
Not sure how to bring this up with family or coworkers? Try one of these.
Did you learn much Black history in school, or mostly from family?
Do you know what your neighborhood looked like 70 years ago, and who was allowed to buy a home there?
What's a piece of history you only found out about as an adult?
ps – this is a community-created guide that is updated often. Want to make changes/corrections? Complete this form.
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