Noire History

"Freeman" by Leonard Pitts, Jr. follows three main characters at the end of the Civil War. Tilda, a former slave woman freed by the end of the war. Her estranged husband, Sam Freeman, who had been a slave but managed to escape to the North. And Prudence Kent, a White woman from Boston whose father was wealthy. Through these three characters, we get very different perspectives on the time.

I enjoyed "Freeman". It was an emotional roller coaster that had me in my feelings at quite a few points. The book was a quick read and I was able to finish it in about a week or two.

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"13th", a documentary by filmmaker Ava DuVernay, explores the history of institutional racism through the lens of the 13th Amendment. In this episode, I discuss the economic motivations for using mass incarceration and the prison-industrial complex to target the Black community.

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Brainwashed: Challenging the Myth of Black Inferiority written by Tom Burrell, is a book about "the greatest propaganda campaign of all time": the concept of black inferiority. In this episode, I discuss the book's theories on racial stereotypes and its exploration of the lingering effects of slavery on the Black psyche and community.

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"Django Unchained" is a western set two years before the Civil War that tells the story of a slave named Django who works as a bounty hunter to obtain his and his wife's freedom. In this episode I review the movie and discuss the impact of Quentin Tarantino's penchant for visual violence on the film's story and characters. Visit NoireHistoir.com for show notes and video.

"Selma" provides a snapshot of the efforts to end systematic suppression of Black voting and other civil rights in the South. In this episode, I discuss the film's portrayal of Martin Luther King, Jr.; President Lyndon B. Johnson; and other key figures from the Civil Rights Movement.

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"Your Money and Your Man" by Michelle Singletary, offers women financial advice for life in general but mostly focuses on dating/courtship, marriage, and raising kids. In this episode I discuss useful sections of the book along with the points on which I agreed and disagreed with Singletary's views on personal finance.

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In this episode, I discuss "What Happened, Miss Simone?", an award-winning Netflix documentary about the life and career of Nina Simone.

Simone put her life and career at risk to join the Civil Rights Movement. She was ostracized by the music industry and abandoned by fans only to later re-emerge as a cultural icon.

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"At the Dark End of the Street" by Danielle L. McGuire tells the story of Black women's fight to obtain civil rights and equal legal protection against rape and sexual harassment. ⠀⠀ In this episode I discuss the book's fresh perspective on Rosa Parks and the Civil Rights Movement.

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