Women of color have been at the forefront of many movements, yet are often neglected, demonized, or ignored.

Your history class probably didn’t teach you about Josephine Baker, who was not only a famous Black dancer and entertainer, but also a spy aiding in the French Resistance. You likely didn’t learn about Claudette Colvin either. She was the Black, pregnant fifteen year old whose civil disobedience kicked off the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

We live in a world of whitewashed feminism, so there’s a lot to unlearn before our social movements are truly inclusive.

Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists by Mikki Kendall shares the stories of notable women of color whose stories have been left behind.

Guest: Mikki Kendall

Book: Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists: A Graphic History of Women's Fight for Their Rights

Producer: Sophia Andrews

Music: Silas Bohen and Coleman Hamilton

Editors: Bethany Denton and Jeff Emtman

As the ashes of the Third Reich settled, a divided Germany struggled to come to terms with what just occurred. Generations of German philosophers, politicians, academics, and common citizens slowly and collectively decided to confront the horrific actions of the Nazis. They called this process “Vergangenheitsaufarbeitung”, or “working off the past”, though it has several names. Step by step, through a feeling of collective guilt and moral responsibility, they were able to make amends with the world and build legal and societal safeguards against hatred and extremism.

Compared to the Germans, the United States has only barely confronted our legacy of slavery and Jim Crow. Throughout the South, the “Lost Cause Narrative” is still common. Confederate generals are still hailed as heroes and the banner of the defeated flies proudly at our halls of power. Like an infected wound that festers, the refusal to face the past and address wrongs have led to voter suppression, police brutality, wealth inequality, systemic racism and a million other things.

Unlike Germany, the U.S. has weak legal and societal safeguards against bigotry and racism. And with the resurgence of Black Lives Matter demonstrations following the murder of George Floyd, it is clear that the United States must finally step up to the challenge and confront our legacy of slavery and racism.

Untextbooked producer Lap Ngyuen became fascinated with America’s response to slavery, the Civil War, and the era of Jim Crow that followed. Lap immigrated to the U.S. as a kid, and has spent years trying to understand its complicated history. His curiosity led him to the work of philosopher and historian Susan Neiman.

In her book Learning from the Germans, Susan Neiman discusses the importance of an American “Vergangenheitsaufarbeitung”. She believes that reparations, education reform, and destroying all vestiges of a glorified Confederacy are just a few ways to allow societal healing to take place.She is hopeful, since young Americans are poised to be the beacon of reconciliation like the German youth were in the 1960s.

Guest: Susan Neiman

Book: Learning from the Germans: Race and the Memory of Evil

Producer: Lap Nguyen

Music: Silas Bohen and Coleman Hamilton

Editor: Bethany Denton and Jeff Emtman

UnTextbooked is a history podcast for the future. Brought to you by teen changemakers who are looking for answers to big questions. We interview famous historians who have some of the answers.

These intergenerational conversations bring the full power of history to you with the depth and vividness that most textbooks lack. Real history, to help you find answers to your big questions. UnTextbooked makes history unboring forever.

Full episodes coming Fall 2020. Subscribe now in your favorite podcast app.