The Great Migration and the Power of a Single Decision | Isabel Wilkerson

Sometimes, a single decision can change the course of history. Join journalist and author Isabel Wilkerson as she tells the story of the Great Migration, the outpouring of six million African Americans from the Jim Crow South to cities in the North and West between World War I and the 1970s. This was the first time in American history that the lowest caste people signaled they had options and were willing to take them -- and the first time they had a chance to choose for themselves what they would do with their innate talents, Wilkerson explains. "These people, by their actions, were able to do what the powers that be, North and South, could not or would not do," she says. "They freed themselves."

Crash Course Black American History Preview | Clint Smith

Over the course of 51 episodes, we're going to learn about Black American History. Clint Smith will teach you about the experience of Black people in America, from the arrival of the first enslaved Black people who arrived at Jamestown all the way to the Black Lives Matter movement.

The Most Powerful Woman You've Never Heard Of | T. Morgan Dixon and Vanessa Garrison
Everyone's heard of Martin Luther King Jr. But do you know the woman Dr. King called "the architect of the civil rights movement," Septima Clark? The teacher of some of the generation's most legendary activists -- like Rosa Parks, Diane Nash, Fannie Lou Hamer and thousands more -- Clark laid out a blueprint for change-making that has stood the test of time. Now T. Morgan Dixon and Vanessa Garrison, the cofounders of GirlTrek, are taking a page from Clark's playbook to launch a health revolution in the US -- and get one million women walking for justice.
 

What Beyonce Taught Me About Race | Brittany Barron

In this powerful TEDx Talk, diversity advocate and Beyoncé super fan, Brittany Barron translates Beyoncé's music as a road map about race relations in the United States; demonstrating that being "colorblind" is not the goal, but diminishing our nation's "expertise" in racism is. Brittany’s body of work addresses the ways in which race, gender, and sexuality interact with our everyday lives. Brittany has a vast amount of experience creating and facilitating interactive workshops and training, and writing on these topics through her work in higher education, non-profit organizations and currently as a Freelance Diversity Consultant. While serving as a pastor at Fellowship Monrovia, Brittany had the privilege of writing a curriculum designed to help participants unpack and understand racism. In addition, she developed a Center for Racial Reconciliation with Fellowship Monrovia. Brittany also offers hands-on experiential learning through her Civil Rights Tours, for which she takes participants through the South to immerse them in the world of the freedom riders, advocates and everyday people. The intent is to create a deeper and more personal understanding of the history of race in America. Brittany received a B.A. in Psychology and M.S. in Counseling.

Can Art Amend History? | Titus Kaphar
Artist Titus Kaphar makes paintings and sculptures that wrestle with the struggles of the past while speaking to the diversity and advances of the present. In an unforgettable live workshop, Kaphar takes a brush full of white paint to a replica of a 17th-century Frans Hals painting, obscuring parts of the composition and bringing its hidden story into view. There's a narrative coded in art like this, Kaphar says. What happens when we shift our focus and confront unspoken truths?
 

The Mission to Safeguard Black History in the US | Julieanna L. Richardson

Black history in the US is rich, profound -- and at risk of being lost forever, if not for the monumental efforts of Julieanna L. Richardson. As the founder of The HistoryMakers -- the largest national archive of African American video-oral history -- Richardson shares some of the unknown and incredible legacies of Black America, highlighting the importance of documenting and preserving the past for future generations.