Selected Resources
- Black History BuffBlack History Buff Podcast is "more than just a podcast, the show is a bridge that links communities throughout the African diaspora and enlightens and empowers its friends." Host King Kurus launched the show in 2018 and credits his son as his inspiration. Episodes range in time and theme, from short clips about Black activists and scholars to slightly-longer shows sharing African history and proverbs. The common denominator between these episodes is a commitment to making accounts of Black history accessible and accurate. Listeners can tune in on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, YouTube, and at the link above. The site also features The Black History Buff Blog. Though it has not been updated since 2019, it contains dozens of posts highlighting important people and events, including Wangari Maathai (a Nobel Peace Prize-winning environmentalist) and Vicente Ramon Guerrero Saldana (Mexico's first Black and Indigenous president). The podcast and prose serve a collective mission: reminding visitors that "Black history is world history."
- Black Lives Matter#BlackLivesMatter was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer. Black Lives Matter Foundation, Inc is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes.
- Black Lives Matter Digital ResourceExact Editions' collaboration with 50 publishers to provide free access to materials related to Black Lives Matter.
- BlackPast.org: African American History: Primary DocumentsSince 2007, BlackPast.org has been dedicated to providing resources to educators and members of the general public about Black history. One noteworthy component of BlackPast.org is this extensive collection of primary documents. This collection, which features documents spanning from 1724 to 2009, provides an invaluable resource for history instructors and students. Among the dozens of documents included here are the deleted portions of the Declaration of Independence, in which Thomas Jefferson condemned slavery; the 1849 Roberts v. Boston ruling (which rejected Benjamin Roberts's challenge to racial segregation in Boston schools); and Zora Neale Hurston's 1955 criticism of Brown v. Board of Education. The majority of these documents are related to court cases so that civics teachers as well as history teachers will find plenty of resources of interest.
- Black QuotidianBlack Quotidian explores everyday lives of African Americans in the twentieth century. Drawing on an archive of digitized African-American newspapers, Matthew F. Delmont guides readers through a wealth of primary resources that reveal how the Black press popularized African-American history and valued the lives of both famous and ordinary Black people.
- Government Alliance on Race and Equity
The Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE) is a national network of government working to achieve racial equity and advance opportunities for all. The Alliance is a joint project of the new Race Forward and the Othering and Belonging Institute.
- The New York Times' 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-JonesThe 1619 Project is an ongoing initiative from The New York Times Magazine that began in August 2019, the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery. It aims to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of our national narrative.
- Project Implicit: Implicit Association TestsFounded in 1998, Project Implicit is a collaboration between scientists at three universities (Harvard University, University of Washington, and University of Virginia) focused on "implicit social cognition." Defined as "thoughts and feelings outside of conscious awareness and control," implicit social cognition is a powerful psychological process that helps us evaluate and address our biases. Understanding our implicit biases is critical to deconstructing stereotypes we hold. Project Implicit's Implicit Association Tests help readers accomplish this. These tests help users assess biases across many topics, including gender, age, and ability. The group also created a "Race Task" Implicit Association Test. The test takes about 10 minutes to finish. It features some preliminary questions about your "beliefs, attitudes, and opinions," and a seven-part test that asks users about images and associations. The results help individuals better understand how their implicit biases affect how they perceive the world. The data has informed several significant studies and research papers. Readers can learn more about this on the Blog page. For additional information on the testing design, check out the Education page.
- Racial Equity Tools
Racial Equity Tools is designed to support individuals and groups working to achieve racial equity. This site offers tools, research, tips, curricula and ideas for people who want to increase their own understanding and to help those working toward justice at every level – in systems, organizations, communities and the culture at large.
- Shareable Anti-racism resource guide created by Tasha KThis anti-racist resource guide was crafted amidst the anger of the latest black body turned hashtag #AhmaudArbery. It is consistently being updated to address the current climate of our country and the personal growth needed to sustain this life-long journey. Please note that this document was and will continue to be a group effort.
- The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American CenterThe Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center is a migratory museum that brings history, art and culture to you through innovative community-focused experiences.
There are more than 17 million people of Asian or Pacific Islander descent in the United States. In less than 50 years, nearly one of every ten people in America will trace his or her heritage to Asia and the Pacific--a region that covers more than one third of the earth--including the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent and the Pacific. This region is also home to nearly half of the world’s population, natural life, nations, economies, major faiths and languages. America is—and has been—a Pacific Rim nation. Our understanding of America and America’s standing in the world is richer, more compelling, and more powerful when it includes the Asian Pacific American story. The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center serves as a dynamic national resource for discovering why the Asian Pacific American experience matters every day, everywhere, and all of the time. - Talking About RaceRecognizing that "talking about race, although hard, is necessary," this resource from the National Museum of African American History and Culture aims to provide individuals, educators, and caregivers with tools to have productive and conscious conversations. These resources were created in response to the Museum's most frequent question: "How [do I] talk about race[?]" Readers may want to begin by asking themselves the "personal reflection" questions on the program's home page. From there, resources can be explored by topic (e.g. "Historical Foundations of Race" and "Social Identities and Systems of Oppression") or by audience (e.g. parent or teacher). Each of these categories contain a variety of videos, reading materials, discussion questions, and action items. Readers can also sift through the full list of more than 100 materials on the Resources page. This page has a variety of filters to narrow by type, topic, and more. Talking About Race receives financial support from The Atlantic Philanthropies.
Umbra Search: African American History
- Umbra Search: African American History519,264 items from more than 1000 U.S. archives, libraries, and museums. Includes searchable access to a wide variety of media and formats, primary sources, and secondary sources from several eras.