MasterClass: Black History, Black Freedom, and Black Love

Angela Davis, Cornel West, Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, Nikole Hannah-Jones, Sherrilyn Ifill, Jelani Cobb and John McWhorter In this introduction to Part I of a three-part class, seven Black scholars invite you to learn history not taught in U.S. schools. Examining white supremacy and its antithesis—Black love—this class will challenge how you view race in America.

Professor Cornel West explains the significance of Black love in all its forms—art, culture, family, community, and dignity—and why, despite trauma, Black Americans continue to create freedom fighters to spread Black joy and win liberty for all.

Nikole Hannah-Jones, creator of the 1619 Project, shares how Black American resistance has historically been a major democratizing force in America, and offers insight on the complicated relationship between Black citizens and patriotism.

Nikole Hannah-Jones exposes the true foundation of American capitalism—the chattel slavery of Black people in the South—and how those roots continue to inform much of our modern-day economic systems.

Black Liberation Movement icon Angela Davis speaks to the importance of thinking about enslaved people as people much like us—and not objectifying them strictly as victims of a violent, inhumane economic system.

Linguist John McWhorter shares the origins of Black English. Often dismissed as slang, Black English is a uniquely sophisticated form of communication with its own nuances and complexities.

Angela Davis describes slavery’s lasting impact on Black women—from emancipation to the Moynihan Report and beyond. She focuses on the lasting significance of Black matriarchy and how Black women were at the crux of two great struggles.

Nikole Hannah-Jones unravels the truth about what happened after emancipation, beginning with the Great Nadir. Black codes were introduced, Black businesses were destroyed, and Black Americans were terrorized by the practice of lynching.

Civil Rights lawyer and NAACP Legal Defense Fund President Sherrilyn Ifill explains the 14th Amendment and how in making emancipated people full citizens, it also allowed for birthright citizenship and the “nation of immigrants” narrative.

Constitutional law expert Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw explains the Reconstruction Amendments, and how white supremacists successfully resisted reform through the Supreme Court.

Kimberlé Williams Crewnshaw offers the real story of how the promise of the 14th was thwarted, almost before the ink was dry, by white supremacists. See how the legacy of the Redeemer Constitution continues to bleed through into politics today.

Nikole Hannah-Jones juxtaposes the need for universal healthcare with the fact that Black people have one of the lowest life expectancies in America and have historically been underserved by a medical system that does not treat them equitably.

Angela Davis discusses what life was like for Black women after the end of slavery, and the unique experience of Black women in blues music.

Discover how Black children were educated before the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, from the creation of common schools to the impact of school desegregation on Black children who were never intended to be assimilated into public schools.

Writer and journalism professor Jelani Cobb discusses the importance of historically Black colleges and universities and the role they have played since before the Civil War, educating Black luminaries like Thurgood Marshall and many others.

Explore the achievements of three exemplars of Black intellectualism and cultural leadership: legendary scholar W. E. B. Du Bois, activist Booker T. Washington, and intrepid investigative reporter Ida B. Wells.

Jelani Cobb reveals the direct relationship between African Americans in the South and voter suppression efforts after the Civil War. Black Americans did not achieve all the rights of full citizenship until the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Sherrilyn Ifill explains how Black Americans’ civil rights were curtailed through white supremacists’ reactions to the 14th Amendment. The Civil Rights Acts unraveled gains made during Reconstruction, and Jim Crow laws were enacted in the South.