...But first 4 book recommendations:

• How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X Kendi

• The Red Record by Ida B. Wells

• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Himself

High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America by Jessica B. Harris, PhD

I have a lot of thoughts on these books and they're really informative and provide meaningful insight on all kinds of difficult topics, but they're difficult reads for a lot of reasons, not least of which is the horrific trauma of history being described.

...I could go into more detail on each of these books, each is more than enough to write a whole piece on, honestly each chapter probably is, but I don't want to get so bogged down and do a disservice to such an important topic.

I don't want to run the risk of talking beyond my experience and assuming I understand things I simply don't, so I'm opting to point to these highly informative, detailed, data-driven, thoroughly-sourced books as a better summary of the subject than I can give in a single writing here.

Instead, I think the purpose of this post would be better as a source of reference material to relevant research resources like these. I figure highlighting better sources than myself on this topic is the best way for me to write a post about this subject.

For people who never investigate issues like this at all the convenience of clicking a link might be all it takes, who knows?

In that spirit I will close out this writing with Black History Month suggestions other than books.

So, without further ado, here are my...

Black History Month Streaming Suggestions

These are all worth watching, and I've seen them all many times.

I am putting the most approachable introductions to the topic first, but other than that they can be watched in any order of interest.

I will add a description to each about why I'm suggesting it.

The titles are links!

Stamped from the Beginning (Netflix)
This one is by the same author as "How to be an Anti-Racist" Ibram X Kendi and it's a deep dive into the history of racism as a concept and how it is woven through the history of the USA. If you want a full breakdown of the history of racism in the US then this documentary gives you that in a nutshell and makes it easy to understand and digest. That said, I would still argue it might make sense to watch 13th first, because that one dispels a lot of disinformation specifically, but honestly they could work in either order I'm sure.

13th (Netflix)
This one is pivotal, concise, and dense. If you know nothing about this subject this is a very good primer on the subject or starting point. How much do you know about the 13th Amendment? This is a deep dive that covers 150 years of history in 90 minutes, and makes it understandable and approachable. If you watch nothing else, watch this

Amend: The Fight for America (Netflix)
Ok, so this follows 13th nicely...it's all about the 14th Amendment, do you know what that is? If you don't you should definitely watch this because it is a series that goes into great detail about the 14th amendment's history from its passage to how it applies to modern Supreme Court cases and has been cited in more Supreme Court cases than any other Constitutional amendment! This makes sense to watch right after 13th if you'd like to get a strong understanding of the amendments most directly relevant to struggles for freedom and equality under the law.

True Justice: Bryan Stevenson's Fight for Equality (Max)
This documentary is a fascinating deep dive into the life and work of Bryan Stevenson who has been a pivotal Civil Rights lawyer who has argued in front of the Supreme Court on many Mississippi Death Row cases where the "guilty" often have literal proof of innocence that's simply ignored. An up close look at the legal system that's deep and moving and illuminating in ways I think are fundamental to understanding what's actually happening day to day.

High on the Hog (Netflix)
In 4 episodes food writer Stephen Satterfield explores the history of African American cuisine from Africa, through arriving in the Americas, how it developed amongst the enslaved from the kitchens in their homes through the kitchens they were forced to work in. A very deep technical explanation of the people and history surrounding all of these iconic culturally-connected dishes with a lot of deep discussion and delicious dishes!

When They See Us (Netflix)
Do you know "The Central Park 5"? All found guilty. All fully exonerated by DNA evidence. This is a dramatized retelling of their story, from the people who lived it, and there was a lot of misconduct and injustice throughout this traumatic ordeal. Worth watching this series, demonstrates how the innocent are often punished harshest by the justice system.

Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy (Netflix)
This documentary is really important for dispelling racist myths that many people think are true. Did you know crack and cocaine are essentially the same drug? Did you know that most of the bad side effects of crack are actually from studies on Meth? Or completely made up? There's a lot of racist disinformation that's debunked in this documentary and people need to know.

The Loving Story (Max)
This documentary is all about the couple behind the Supreme Court case "Loving v. Virginia" which made interracial marriage legal and protected under the Constitution, according to the Supreme Court. A fascinating tale of a couple that simply refused to deny their own existence and fought all the way to the top for love.

Time: The Kalief Browder Story (Netflix)
If you don't know who Kalief Browder is then this gives you a full insight into the tragic injustice he endured. He was thrown into Rikers Island Jail, spending 2 years in solitary confinement, without ever being found guilty of anything or even prosecuted because there was no evidence or witnesses and he didn't have the backpack he was accused of stealing. In fact, the case was never prosecuted and he was subjected to literal and intentional torture by guards and inmate proxies for guards. Eventually he was released with no charges despite literal years of abuse. Harrowing but critical for people to know about, and this series goes into great detail continuing long after his release.

Underground Railroad: The Secret History (Max)
Absolutely fascinating archaeology documentary exploring the Underground Railroad routes that were taken, which is quite difficult given that those people were actively covering their tracks and many never told their tales. Fascinating what they're able to figure out and there's a lot!

The Legacy of Black Wall Street (Max)
A fascinating and highly detailed portrait told over 2 episodes of "Black Wall Street" near Tulsa Oklahoma until white people essentially massacred the entire city, including dropping firebombs from planes and indiscriminately killing innocent civilians for hours in the streets with guns. First episode explains what "Black Wall Street" was, second episode details the events of the massacre. A piece of US history oft buried.

The People v. The Klan (Max)
The story of Beulah Mae Donald, whose son was murdered in cold blood by KKK "good old boys" but when the police did nothing she decided to sue the KKK itself, taking it all the way to the Supreme Court, and winning. A fascinating tale and important history that isn't common knowledge.

Exterminate All the Brutes (Max)
This one is 3 episodes and covers an immense amount of material, which makes sense since its scope is the entire ~500 year history of European colonialism and how it played out in many countries, not just the US. This is a deep dive into the Transatlantic slave trade across the many countries it touched, it is also a history of other forms of colonialism and gives a broad and comprehensive perspective that pulls everything into focus about the core issues at the center of many of the problems of today. Critical for understanding modern society, history, and politics, but this is probably the least approachable and is most informative if you're already aware of much of the subject matter I've described in the previous content, so I'd recommend it later or last if you're picking through here.

The Innocence Files (Netflix)
This series highlights cases where innocent people have been found guilty of crimes and showcases how this happens in a systematic way through following the "Innocence Project" lawyers who take on cases of false convictions on a daily basis and sometimes this results in exposing huge systemic injustices that put many innocent people in prison or death row. An important reality check for people who assume the justice system works like the TV court dramas that aren't remotely accurate to the real world.

The Confession Tapes (Netflix)
This series is about people who were forced/tricked/mindfucked by police into giving false confessions on tape. Every case is egregious misconduct, but it's also typical of the systemic problems in the justice system. An important education on how people get railroaded and tortured into false confessions when police want to close cases.

Hungry for Answers (Max)
This series is short, only 3 episodes, but brilliant. It explores how African American cuisine has inspired many popular movements by first inventing something creative and unique that then gets stolen by white people who monetize it themselves without giving credit or compensation to the original creators. She literally goes into white owned businesses and asks the owners about this directly. Fascinating, ballsy, impressive, a show of force highlighting a problem white people try to quietly ignore.

How to Fix a Drug Scandal (Netflix)
This series dives into misconduct that occurred from multiple scientists working at drug testing facilities used by courts to identify recovered substances from suspects in order to convict them for drug crimes. Turns out the misconduct was so bad literally thousands of drug convictions had to be expunged. Highlights that misconduct occurs even in the science of the justice system for criminal cases.

Trial 4 (Netflix)
This series is about Sean K. Ellis who was put on trial 4 separate times because the misconduct and lack of evidence was so bad that juries kept refusing to convict until the 4th trial where a guilty verdict was reached. Then it turns out that there's strong evidence of someone else being guilty, but it was never investigated because it would expose police corruption, which puts the whole situation into focus and clarifies why police worked so hard to harass witnesses...

Civil: Ben Crump (Netflix)
This one is an uplifting portrait of Ben Crump, a career civil rights lawyer who has made huge impact on many people and their lives representing the families of those killed by the justice system like Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. I had no idea how much he'd accomplished and it's very compelling to see how many people he's helped giving voice to those most impacted by misconduct and brutality.

Good Hair (Max)
Chris Rock created this documentary when he realized all the bullshit his daughters had to go through over their naturally kinky hair. A full breakdown of the racism pointed at people with kinky hair and the history of beauty products and procedures to give them "good hair". Worth watching especially if you have no idea what it's like to have kinky hair yourself, but Chris Rock didn't know either until he started making this documentary (according to himself in the documentary)

Savior Complex (Max)
This 3 episode series is all about the "White Savior" myth and how it plays out in the real world in deadly ways. Specifically, this follows a young white woman who went to Uganda to help and proceeded to practice medicine with no training or license and, predictably, people died. Tragic, but it's fascinating to watch because she is completely convinced she's "doing the right thing" when practicing unlicensed medicine in this way is criminal.

King in the Wilderness (Max)
This movie follows Martin Luther King Jr during the last years of his life, when he became outspoken on Vietnam and economic issues as the movement was splintered by faction politics and literal FBI disruption. A fascinating portrait of the man who was suddenly killed when he started questioning capitalism and how it creates the very problems he spoke out about. A fascinating reminder of what MLK had to say that many try to ignore or rewrite.

Frederick Douglass: in Five Speeches (Max)
Frederick Douglass is a tour-de-force and he was a prolific writer, speaker, and agitator for justice and this movie weaves together the story of his life as a slave who escaped to freedom, inspired the abolitionists, and on through his life after emancipation and the continuing fight for equality that he watched during his life. Told woven around 5 of his most iconic speeches and talking through the historical and personal context surrounding them. Absolutely fascinating and incisive and worth the watch!

Homegrown (Max)
This series is wonderful and uplifting, Jamila Norman is a genius and it's obvious how brilliant she is in every episode. As she explains in each intro, she's a former engineer who shifted to urban farming and is so skilled and successful at it that she created this show to come help people at home fix their home gardens. She shows up, evaluates their setup and then helps do a "garden makeover" where she sets them up to have healthy fruits, vegetables, and sometimes animals so that people can have wonderful home farms to support themselves. Inspiring, brilliant, and informative!

Insecure (Netflix + Max)
Not a documentary, this is a comedy series written and created by Issa Rae about modern day black people living in Los Angeles and I recommend it because this is one of the few shows I've seen that centers the experience of black women and it's insightful and humanizing in a way that I think makes it an important watch for people who aren't attuned to those experiences unless they're presented as clearly as this. Valuable and insightful, and there is a documentary about the creation of the show after!

Abbott Elementary (Netflix + Max)
Not a documentary, this is a comedy series written about elementary school teachers working in an under-funded public school where they deal with issues that are real with regard to race, funding, and how the issues of systemic racism affect kids from the very start. Inspirational and deep, worth the watch!

Who we Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America is one of the most in-depth breakdowns of exactly how slavery functioned in both north and south in America before the Civil War, it is an accounting of what the Pre-Civil War US history actually involved with regard to the slavery that is rarely mentioned or explained in most contexts of the period. Truly fascinating content I've never seen anywhere else, and absolutely worth watching if possible...but currently not available to stream directly.