Two Things I’ve Done to Learn More About Black History
plus: work is killing my writing vibes
Hi, it's me. I’m still here. Maybe you noticed I didn’t send a newsletter last week, or maybe you don’t pay that close attention. Or maybe you’re behind and reading this in June. Whatever. I have a full time job now, which I didn't have when I first started this newsletter. I’m still getting used to my new reality and how it impacts my writing schedule.
(I sense your tiny violin playing in response to my adulting woes… and I accept your mocking.)
I miss the time I had available last year to write without pesky work stuff, family stuff, and sleeping stuff getting in my way. At one point last week I attempted to stay up late to finish an essay so I could “make my deadline,” and I wondered: Who’s going to fire me if I miss my deadline?
Nobody. There is no deadline. I made up the deadline and it’s not real.
I closed the lid and was in bed by 10pm.
But truly, I almost lost hours of precious sleep last week because you keep showing up here, and I desperately wanted to deliver the goods. Thank you for coming. I appreciate you.
Black History Month kicks off today, February 1st.
As a GenX white kid who grew up in an affluent community in the midwest, I learned history through the lens of the heroic colonizer perspective. Over the last few years I’ve been exploring stories about America's history that feature diverse voices. These stories come in many forms – books, podcasts, movies, Twitter accounts, newsletters.
Mostly I listen, read, and observe. Like a fly on the wall. I want to learn and understand.
Don’t worry, I’m not here to tell you you’re doing it wrong. Unless you’re a brand manager who’s planned performative #blackhistorymonth content. Or you’re Plon DeSpankus trying to cancel Black history education in Florida. Then I’m definitely telling you you’re doing it wrong.
But if you’re interested in learning more and you don’t know where to start, here’s a couple things I’ve tried:
I found a lightweight way to keep learning more about Black history throughout the year. We don’t have to limit the study of Black history to 28 days at the beginning of the year. We can use the occasion as a launching point for curiosity that lasts the entire year, and maybe even a lifetime.
Stories about the systemic trauma Black Americans experienced throughout history – or last weekend, or yesterday – are important stories for us to hold, to sit with, to breathe through. And so are stories that highlight Black joy, dignity, and success. Here are a few ways I engage with stories from Black perspectives on an ongoing basis:
A couple years ago I signed up for 28 Days of Black History. Throughout February, each daily email contains a cultural artifact, action step, and a discussion question that centers black voices and black experiences. It’s a lightweight way to build intention that carries into the rest of the year.
I subscribe to the Anti-Racism Daily newsletter.
Story Corps has a curated list of stories centering Black voices in conversations about Black history, identity, struggles, and joy.
I also follow The Grio on Instagram and subscribe to their newsletter.
I poked around and found some Black people who are into gardening. As a gardener, I absorb a lot of gardening-related content on YouTube and Instagram. A few years ago I noticed everyone I followed was white, so I went looking for Black farmers and gardeners to follow, which led me to the book, Farming While Black.
In her book, Leah Pennimen talks about the shame she initially felt when she became interested in farming because the only stories she’d ever heard about her people’s relationship to the land were about slavery.
“I thought that organic farming was invented by white people and worried that my ancestors who fought and died to break away from the land would roll over in their graves to see me stooping. I struggled with the feeling that a life on land would be a betrayal of my people. I could not have been more wrong.
“I learned that “organic farming” was an African-indigenous system developed over millennia and first revived in the United States by a Black farmer, Dr. George Washington Carver, of Tuskegee University in the early 1900s. Carver conducted extensive research and codified the use of crop rotation in combination with the planting of nitrogen-fixing legumes, and detailed how to regenerate soil biology. His system was known as regenerative agriculture and helped move many southern farmers away from monoculture and toward diversified horticultural operations.”
In my years of participating in gardening groups and watching content online, I’d never heard anyone talk about these widely-used organic methods as originating from African and Indigenous cultures. By adding diverse voices to the gardening content I consume, I’ve learned new things and gained a broader perspective on things like land management, food apartheid, herbal remedies, soil amendments, and accessibility.
You may not be into gardening, but whatever your thing is, try diversifying the content you consume around it and see what you find out.
So anyway, that’s what I do. How about you? Chat me up in the comments.
Until next time,
Jen
Glad you prioritized your sleep, and glad to read your posts whenever they arrive! Do you know Ross Gay’s work? He’s got some rich writing in poetry and prose about gardening, and is one of the black artist voices I’m trying to listen to this year.
I also didn’t notice that you hadn’t posted anything new last week, sort of. But I see you in the comments sections, so your glowing presence has still been appreciated. Just remember time is just a construct created to make you feel bad for not falling in line with its arbitrariness! That’s what I tell myself every time I miss a deadline anyway.