BLACK HISTORY MONTH RESOURCES
Black History Month - Resources
MOVIES
When They See Us (Netflix) - This Netflix original series, released in 2019 dramatizes the infamous real-life story of the Central Park 5. This Emmy-nominated, four-part limited series offers a chilling look at the case and the fight of five black teens who continuously try to prove that they didn't commit the crime in a system that seemed largely indifferent to their innocence.
Judas and the Black Messiah (HBO Max) - "Judas and the Black Messiah" tells the story of an FBI operation in Illinois in the 1960s designed to take down the Black Panther Party emerging in the state.
Kevin Hart’s Guide to Black History (Netflix) - This is an educational comedy special from Kevin Hart. When his daughter becomes disillusioned by stories about Black history being all about injustice, Hart takes her on a journey to highlight the unsung heroes of the Black community in America.
Dear White People (Netflix) - This Netflix series follows a group of Black students at a predominantly white university. A Black student, Samantha White (Logan Browning), starts a podcast directed at white students and calls them out for their microaggressions and racist behaviors. It provides insights into how Black people are told they don’t “fit in.” It also addresses issues within the Black community like colorism, class and activism.
Hidden Figures - This movie tells the incredible untold story of three brilliant African-American women working at NASA who served as the brains behind the launch into orbit of Astronaut John Glenn. This trio crossed all gender and racial lines and inspired a whole generation.
42 - This biographical sports film is based on the baseball player, Jackie Robinson, who becomes the first black athlete to play in Major League Baseball during the modern era. This is the story of the great Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) and the legendary Brooklyn Dodgers manager Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford) -- whose brave stand against prejudice forever changed the world by changing the game of baseball.
Malcolm X - This movie is a tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation.
Loving - This movie is based on Interracial couple Richard and Mildred Loving. They fell in love and were married in 1958. They grew up in Central Point, a small town in Virginia that was more integrated than surrounding areas in the American South. Yet it was the state of Virginia, where they were making their home and starting a family, that first jailed and then banished them.
The Help - In 1960s Mississippi, Southern society girl Skeeter (Emma Stone) returns from college with dreams of being a writer. She turns her small town on its ear by choosing to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent white families. She discovered that they have a lot to say eventually.
Selma - This film is based on how, despite violent opposition, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) and his followers pressed forward on an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, and their efforts culminated in President Lyndon Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
BOOKS
Stamped From the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi. The book by Kendi, an award-winning Africana studies historian who is moving to Boston University in July to launch the BU Center for Antiracist Research, is a definitive history of anti-black racist ideas and their impact on American history.
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, by Michelle Alexander. First came slavery, then came segregation, then came mass incarceration.
Beloved, by Toni Morrison, winner of the Nobel Prize for literature. “Stares unflinchingly into the abyss of slavery.” Another must-read is The Bluest Eye, a terrifying novel about cultural definitions of beauty and the tragedy of self-hatred.
The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother, by James McBride. “What color is God?” a dark-skinned boy asks his light-skinned mother. “God is the color of water.”
Reporting Civil Rights (Parts One and Two) Library of America edition of great American journalism on race and social justice, 1941-1973.
The Authentic Voice: The Best Reporting on Race and Ethnicity, edited by Arlene Morgan, Alice Pifer and Keith Woods. Rich examples reveal the power of inclusiveness in all the stories we tell.
My Soul Is Rested: The Story of the Civil Rights Movement in the Deep South, by Howell Raines. A superb oral history of the key moments and key figures of the struggle.
The Sound of Freedom: Marian Anderson, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Concert That Awakened America, by Raymond Arsenault. A great biography of a great American artist by the historian who also gave us Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice.
Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice, by Phillip Hoose. Before Rosa Parks became an American icon, a young teenage girl, Claudette Colvin, refused to give up her seat on a bus. Written for young readers, but important for all.
Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Framed as a letter to his adolescent son, the author digs down to consequences of the continuing exploitation of black people in America. By the author who has made the most eloquent case in favor of reparations for continuing effects of slavery.
Woodholme: A Black Man’s Story of Growing Up Alone, by DeWayne Wickham. An orphan, black and poor, grows up to be one of America’s most prominent newspaper columnists.
Crossing the Danger Water: Three Hundred Years of African-American Writing, edited by Deirdre Mullane. If I had to recommend a single volume, this anthology would be it: more than 700 pages of history, literature and insight.
Extraordinary, Ordinary People: A Memoir of Family, by Condoleezza Rice. This family memoir by the former U.S. secretary of state carries us back to when she was 8 years old and her young friends were murdered in the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.
Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954-63, by Taylor Branch. Widely hailed by critics of all races as “a vivid tapestry of America.”
Race Matters, by Cornel West. From W. E. B. Du Bois to Cornel West, African-American intellectuals have helped Americans of all colors understand the sources of racism and the need for change.
The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, James Weldon Johnson. The 1912 short novel narrates what it means for a person of mixed race to “pass for white” within the system of American apartheid.
The Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle, and the Awakening of a Nation, by Gene Roberts and Hank Klibanoff. Winner of a Pulitzer Prize. The stories behind the stories of civil rights, including the inspirational courage and leadership of African-American journalists and publishers.
On the Bus with Rosa Parks, by Rita Dove. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, her poetry captures a unique vision of the love and spirit of those who struggled against segregation.
Soul on Ice, by Eldridge Cleaver. Bought this as a college student in 1968 along with Look Out, Whitey! Black Power’s Gon’ Get Your Mama! by Julius Lester. Written from a California state prison by a key figure in the Black Panther movement.
Black and White Styles in Conflict, by Thomas Kochman. Are black people and white people the same — or different? Turns out, the answer is “both,” according to the white sociologist who drills down into American culture to reveal the sources of our misunderstanding.
The Fire Next Time, by James Baldwin. Framed as a letter to his young nephew on the 100th anniversary of emancipation. A searing call for justice.
The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes. The poet was a black man in a white world, a gay man in a straight world.
Trouble in Mind by Leon F. Litwack, a professor of history at the University of California at Berkeley, is an account of the brutal age of Jim Crow.
DOCUMENTARIES
PBS Documentary Collections - PBS LearningMedia provides several notable collections from award-winning documentaries around black history. These collections feature extensive multimedia resources, lesson plans and student guides that extend learning beyond Black History Month.
RESTAURANTS
Black-Owned CT Food - Black-Owned CT Food is a restaurant/food blog developed by Fairfield University students for Fairfield University students to support Black-owned restaurants in the Fairfield County area.
UNIVERSITY EVENTS AND INITIATIVES
If you haven’t already, follow Black Student Union’s instagram (@fairfieldbsu_) to check out their daily quotes and songs in honor of Black History Month.
21-Day Racial Equity Challenge: Join Student Diversity, as well as the campus community, on Instagram (@stagdiversity) through Feb. 21 for the 21-Day Ignatian Racial Equity Challenge.
Come join FUSA and Fairfield University Dining services at the Black Owned Edible Culture Food Truck on Thursday, February 11 2021 at 5:00 PM EST to 8 pm.
Join Black Activism in the United States with RA Ohsafa on Tuesday, February 16 to learn about the few men and women who have paved the way for younger generations of African Americans. This program will also discuss more recent activism and its impact on the community.
Join the Black History Month Trivia Night hosted by Service for Justice and Creative Life Residential Colleges at 70 McCormick on Tuesday, February 16 2021 at 9:00 PM EST to 10 pm EST.
Participate in the 2021 Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration - "Striving to Build the Beloved Community: From Dr. King to Black Lives Matter." SDMA’s annual Convocation, taking place virtually on Monday, February 22 at 7 p.m., will inaugurate a weeklong series of virtual events about racial justice.