The Magnolia Plantation in Charleston, S.C., once enslaved Africans. It is now a place to learn and reflect on this dark history.
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The unexpected places where Americans are learning Black history
A culture war over Black history has limited what some students are able to learn in the classroom. Black people across America have found new ways to the teach their own history, from home-schooling pods to the metaverse.
Amid racist education laws, violence in schools and banned books, Black families are forming homeschooling groups to take matters into their own hands.
Edith Renfrow Smith broke barriers throughout her life. She was the first Black woman to graduate from Grinnell College in 1937, but credits her mother and formerly enslaved grandfather as her first teachers.
From watching Martin Luther King Jr. speak, to following Black travelers on their journey through Route 66, the metaverse takes students back in time without leaving the present.
In an industry with a troubled history of racism and stereotypical narratives of Blackness, one film historian made it her mission to celebrate early Black film pioneers who created joyful art amid adversity.
