Home: Black History Month: 2023

2023 Black History Month - Black Resistance

Women and the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1965

A Black Women's History of the United States

How Long? How Long? : African American Women in the Struggle for Civil Rights

Black Women in the Ivory Tower, 1850-1954 : An Intellectual History

They Say : Ida B. Wells and the Reconstruction of Race

Freedom's Teacher : The Life of Septima Clark

A Forgotten Sisterhood : Pioneering Black Women Educators and Activists in the Jim Crow South

Power to the People : The World of the Black Panthers

On the Ground : The Black Panther Party in Communities Across America

Freedom Riders : 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice

Stony the Road : Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow

The New Jim Crow : Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

Black resistance, white law : a history of constitutional racism in America

Death or Liberty : African Americans and Revolutionary America

Freedom Struggles : African Americans and World War I

The African American Experience during World War II

Black Moses : The Story of Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association

Radical Aesthetics and Modern Black Nationalism

Misogynoir transformed : black women's digital resistance

Pulse of the people : political rap music and black politics

2023 Theme: Black Resistance
"By resisting, Black people have achieved triumphs, successes, and progress as seen in the end of chattel slavery, dismantling of Jim and Jane Crow segregation in the South, increased political representation at all levels of government, desegregation of educational institutions, the passage of Civil Rights Act of 1964, the opening of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History in DC and increased and diverse representation of Black experiences in media. Black resistance strategies have served as a model for every other social movement in the country, thus, the legacy and importance of these actions cannot be understated. [...]
"This is a call to everyone, inside and outside the academy, to study the history of Black Americans’ responses to establish safe spaces, where Black life can be sustained, fortified, and respected."

Association for the Study of African American Life & History. (2023). Black history themes. https://asalh.org/black-history-themes/

African American History Timeline 1526-2021
BlackPast and Histropedia present an ever-evolving, interactive timeline of major political, social, and economic developments in Black history in the United States. Each timeline entry links to blog posts or encyclopedic entries about the event.

Exhibits & Collections

African American Research & Archival Collections in the Pacific Northwest Collection
This guide from the University of Washington highlights materials from the UW Special Collections that relate to Black communities, political groups, and civil rights movements in the Pacific Northwest.
Black Freedom Struggle in the United States: Challenges and Triumphs in the Pursuit of Equality
A collection of over 3,000 primary source documents focused on Black Freedom in terms of critical people and events. Covers 6 phases of Black Freedom: Slavery and the Abolitionist Movement (1790-1860), The Civil War and the Reconstruction Era (1861-1877), Jim Crow Era from 1878 to the Great Depression (1878-1932), The New Deal and World War II (1933-1945), The Civil Rights and Black Power Movements (1946-1975), and The Contemporary Era (1976-2000).
Civil Rights Digital Library
The Civil Rights Digital Library contains a digital video archive of historical news film, a civil rights portal containing related digital collections from across the United States, and educational information like encyclopedia articles, contextual stories, and lesson plans, all documenting the struggle for racial equality in the 1950s and 1960s.
NAACP: A Century in the Fight for Freedom
The NAACP records include about 5 million items from between 1909 to 2010, documenting the formation and running of the NAACP, the oldest and largest civil rights organization in the United States. This exhibit is a retrospective of the major personalities, events, and achievements that shaped the first 100 years of the NAACP. Presented by the Library of Congress.
National Museum of African American History & Culture Searchable Museum
This collection of digital exhibits from the NMAAHC includes digitized versions of exhibits on Black American history, particularly concerning Black religion and cultural freedom efforts, as well as a variety of materials that the museum does not currently have on physical display.
We Claim/Reclaim Space: Darby Vassall’s Life and Legacy exhibit
This digital exhibit explores the life and work of Darby Vassall, alongside Boston's other Black community leaders, abolitionists, and activists through history.

Online Resources

ASALH Black History Month 2023 Theme: Resistance
The Association for the Study of African American Life and History decides the theme for Black History Month every year. Here, you'll find explanations of this year's theme, past years' themes, and the origins of Black History Month.
Black History Buff Podcast
This podcast tells folk tales linking the various communities of the African Diaspora, covering everything from African Samurai to pistol-wielding poets. Check out their blog for more information on people and stories from specific episodes.
Black History in Two Minutes (Or So)
This 5-time Webby-award-winning, immersive digital video series includes a variety of short informational videos about important events or people that shaped American history from an African American perspective, narrated and researched by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Black Lives Matter
The Black Lives Matter global organization is dedicated to the eradication of white supremacy and intervening in violence inflicted on Black communities. At their website, you can find current initiatives to get involved in, relevant news, and a variety of resources meant to enact policy change, invest in Black communities, and uplift Black arts and culture.
HistoryMakers - The Nation's Largest African American Video Oral History Collection
A non-profit institution that preserves and makes accessible oral histories from both well-known and unsung African Americans. At this link, interview videos, archival photography, and a directory of biographical data from participants.
National Museum of African American History & Culture Stories Blog
A blog which covers stories by and about Black Americans and their experiences, Black history in the U.S. in terms of both the personal and the political, and place- and object-based Black histories.