Great Short Videos on African American History

Blackhistoryintwominutes.com is a site devoted to producing two-minute videos on just about any topic you could think of in African American history.  For Black History Month, we’ve selected a few that fit well with topics Speakeasy and Shine Bright have covered.

The site is financed by African American billionaire philanthropist Robert F. Smith and the video podcasts are hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr, Director of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University.

You can find the full list of videos here.

Issues
School segregation is a topic we have covered several times. Both a historical view, like the Little Rock High School Integration in 1957, or Ruby Bridges, the six-year-old who braved racists in New Orleans. But also a look at how de facto school segregation still exists today. This video could be linked with any of them.

This video gives an overview of the wider Civil Rights movement.

People
Leading abolitionist Frederick Douglass is reputed to have been the most photographed American of the 19th Century, which is why he's featured in Shine Bright LLCER File 15 United Selves of America on self-portrayal.

Harriet Tubman, abolitionist, feminist, spy and Underground Railroad conductor is featured in Shine Bright 2e File 19 Breaking the chains and several articles and resources on Speakeasy News.

This video is about Ida B. Wells’ investigative reporting into Jim Crow era lynchings and could link to to Shine Bright 2e File 19 Breaking the Chain. Billie Holiday’s song “Strange Fruit” was another strong indictment of lynching.

Wells was also a leading light of the feminist movement to obtain female suffrage and co-founder of the NAACP.

Jackie Robinson, the first black player in Major League Baseball, is one of the sportspeople featured in "Stand up for Sport" in Speakeasy Files 3e Euro. He inspired Colin Kaepernick’s take a knee protests featured in Shine Bright AMC File 5 Black Lives Matter.

John Lewis led the civil-rights march in Selma and became a Congressman. There is more on Lewis’s life and work in Shine Bright AMC File 5 Black Lives Matter and lots on BLM on Speakeasy News.

Katherine Johnson was one of the talented mathematicians celebrated in the film Hidden Figures, and broke down barriers of race and gender at NASA during a 33-year career.

 

Arts
This video about the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s would be a good complement to Shine Bright 2e File 1 United colours of Harlem.

This one on birth of jazz in New Orleans is a great addition to Shine Bright AMC File 27 Colours of Louisiana or Shine Bright 1e File 8 African-American Art.

Moving on to the birth of Hip Hop, this would be a good complement to Shine Bright 1e File 8 African American art.