Our effectiveness at Mill Cities Community Investments (MCCI) + Foundation for Business Equity (FBE) continues to be tied to understanding the historical experiences of people of color in the United States. In honor of Black History Month, we invite others again to reflect and learn more about the triumphs, struggles, and legacies of Black Americans through a curated list of books, documentaries, podcasts, and videos.

Curated list from Forbes, New York University (NYU), Racial Equity Tools, Shriver Center on Poverty Law, Ted Talks, Trying Together, and the University of Washington.

Books

• A Black Women’s History of the United States – Daina Ramey Berry and Kali Nicole Gross
  • Centering Black women’s stories, two award-winning historians tell the inspiring and harrowing story of African American women and their immeasurable contributions across 400+ years.
• Between the World and Me – Ta-Nehisi Coates
  • Ta-Nehisi Coats, a national correspondent for the Atlantic and #1 New York Times bestseller author, offers a powerful framework for comprehending our nation’s history and the reality of being Black in the United States, written as a letter to his teenage sons
• Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings That Formed the Movement – Kimberle Crenshaw (Editor), Neil Gotanda (Editor), Gary Peller (Editor), Kendall Thomas (Editor)
  • This essential essay collection reframes our understanding of how law, race, and racial power intersect throughout history, with contributions from the principal founders and leading theoreticians.
• King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa – Adam Hochschild
  • American journalist and historian Adam Hochschild explores King Leopold II of Belgium’s genocidal reign and exploitation of the Congo Free State between 1885 and 1908.
• The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X – Les Payne (Author), Tamara Payne (Author)
  • A book that contextualizes race in America prior to Malcolm’s birth, takes an in-depth, nuanced, unflinching look at Malcolm’s life, and then explores his death and its aftermath, all backed by 28 years of research

Documentaries 

• Freedom Riders – PBS
  • Freedom Riders details the powerful and inspiring story of the six months when hundreds of civil rights activists challenged the segregated interstate travel system.
• King In The Wilderness -HBO
  • King in the Wilderness follows Martin Luther King Jr in the last years of his life, told through the personal stories of the closest people to the civil rights legend.
• Summer of Soul – Hulu
  • This documentary, by American musician Questlove, navigates the importance of Black music and how so much of Black culture is inspired by the legendary artists.
• True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality – Equal Justice Initiative
  • True Justice focuses on Bryan Steven’s life and fight against the systemic racism codified by the U.S. criminal justice system and America’s history of slavery, lynching, segregation, and mass incarceration.

Podcasts

• 1619 NYT – Nikole Hannah-Jones
  • Hosted by Nikole Hannah Jones, the creator of the 1619 Project, the 1619 New York Times podcast examines the lasting impact of slavery in America.
• Diversity Gap – Bethaney Wilkinson
  • Bethaney Wilkinson challenges listeners to take a nuanced look at organizational culture and racial diversity in this noteworthy podcast.
• Intersectionality Matters – Kimberlé Crenshaw
  • Kimberlé Crenshaw, American civil rights advocate and leading scholar of Critical Race Theory, encourages powerful and provoking discussions about intersectionality and race.
• Pod Save The People – DeRay Mckesson
  • DeRay Mckesson, organizer, and activist, discusses news, culture, social justice, and politics with prominent experts, influencers, and leaders. 

Videos

• How to build an equitable and just climate future – Peggy Shepard
  • Peggy Shepard, co-founder and executive director of the non-profit WE ACT for Environmental Justice, highlights the disproportionate impact of harmful environmental conditions on Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities and encourages us to think about building a truly equitable future.
• Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America – Prof. Ibram X. Kendi
  • Ibram X. Kendi, #1 NYT bestselling author and director of the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University, speaks about his book “Stamped From The Beginning: The definite history of racist ideas in America,” in this Washington History Seminar, co-chaired by Eric Arnesen (George Washington University) and Philippa Strum (Woodrow Wilson Center).
• How to deconstruct racism, one headline at a time – Baratunde Thurston
  • In this thought-provoking TedTalk, Baratunde Thurston, American writer, comedian, and commentator, discusses the power of language to change traumatic stories into healing stories.
• The Afro-Latino Experience | The Cross Connection – Tiffany Cross
  • Tiffany Cross, author, political analyst, and host of The Cross Connection, discusses the experience of Afro-Latinos in America with Las Alonso and Felice León.
• The New York Times Presents The #1619Project – The New York Times
  • “The New York Times Presents The #1619Project” is a two-hour recorded livestream that acknowledges the anniversary of the ship that carried more than 20 enslaved African people to America, with conversation and performances by Nikole Hannah-Jones, Wesley Morris, Jamelle Bouie, Tyehimba Jess, and more.