People's Historians Podcast

In this episode, from our series on Teach the Black Freedom Struggle, our host, Prentiss Charney Fellow Jessica Rucker speaks with historian Kidada E. Williams about her 2023 book, I Saw Death Coming: A History of Terror and Survival in the War Against Reconstruction. The book offers a breakthrough account of the much-debated Reconstruction period, transporting readers into the daily existence of formerly enslaved people and the white supremacist terror they faced after emancipation. Drawing on a deep reading of the archives, Williams offers a revelatory and, in some cases, minute-by-minute record of nighttime raids and Ku Klux Klan strikes. And she deploys cutting-edge scholarship on trauma to consider how the effects of these attacks would linger for decades — indeed, generations — to come. Read about the event and find related resources.

In this episode, from our series on Teach the Black Freedom Struggle, our host, Rethinking Schools editor Jesse Hagopian speaks with historian Jeanne Theoharis about Rosa Parks’ activism prior to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, her trip to the Highlander Folk School, and the decades she dedicated to challenging racism in the North. This session includes clips from the new documentary The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks, based on the book of the same name by Theoharis. Read about the event and find related resources.

In this episode, from our series on Teach the Black Freedom Struggle, our host, Rethinking Schools editor Jesse Hagopian speaks with historian Dayo Gore about Black women radicals active in the revolutionary struggle during the Red Scare. They also discuss Gore’s book Want to Start a Revolution?: Radical Women in the Black Freedom Struggle. Read about the event and find related resources.

In this episode, from our series on Teach the Black Freedom Struggle, our host, historian Jeanne Theoharis speaks with historian Matt Delmont about his book, Half American: The Epic Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad, which tells the stories of how Black people fought racism at home and abroad during World War II. Thanks to Delmont’s generosity, every teacher who attended the Teach the Black Freedom Struggle class received a copy of the book. Read about the event and find related resources.

In this episode, from our series on Teach the Black Freedom Struggle, our host, Zinn Education Project leadership team member Cierra Kaler-Jones speaks with author Ashley Farmer about the life of Queen Mother Audley Moore, an important proponent of Black Nationalist thought, reparations, and activism. In addition to discussing Farmer’s book on the life of Queen Mother Moore, Farmer shared stories from her book Remaking Black Power: How Black Women Transformed an Era. Read about the event and find related resources.

In this episode, from our series on Teach the Black Freedom Struggle, our host, Zinn Education Project leadership team member Cierra Kaler-Jones speaks with historian Alaina Roberts about the Reconstruction-era connections between Black freedom and Native American citizenship in the context of westward expansion on Native land. They discuss Roberts’ book, I’ve Been Here All the While: Black Freedom on Native Land, which draws on archival research and family history to upend the traditional story of Reconstruction. Read about the event and find related resources.

In this episode, from our series on Teach the Black Freedom Struggle, our hosts, sports historian Dave Zirin and Rethinking Schools editor Jesse Hagopian spoke with several guest speakers about the life and legacy of Howard Zinn, whose 100th birthday was commemorated in August 2022. Guest speakers included Martín Espada, Kidada E. Williams, Myla Kabat-Zinn, Imani Perry, Alice Walker, Lauren Cooper, Bill Bigelow, and Anthony Arnove. The event was co-sponsored by the Howard Zinn Trust, Tamiment Library at New York University, and Busboys and Poets. Read about the event and find related resources.

In this episode, from our series on Teach the Black Freedom Struggle, our host, historian Nancy Raquel Mirabal, speaks with historian Kelly Lytle Hernández about the magonistas, insurgents who challenged Mexican dictator Porfirio Díaz and U.S. imperialism in the early 20th century. They discuss Hernández’s book, Bad Mexicans: Race, Empire, and Revolution in the Borderlands, which tells the story of the magonistas and their leader, Ricardo Flores Magón. Read about the event and find related resources.

In this episode, from our series on Teach the Black Freedom Struggle, our host, Rethinking Schools editor Jesse Hagopian speaks with historian Kidada E. Williams about the imaginative, defiant ways that Black people sought and enacted freedom throughout U.S. history. They discuss Williams’s podcast, Seizing Freedom, which brings to life voices that have been muted time and time again. Read about the event and find related resources.

In this episode, from our series on Teach the Black Freedom Struggle, our host, Rethinking Schools co-editor Jesse Hagopian speaks with historian Johanna Fernández about the history of the Young Lords, the Puerto Rican counterpart of the Black Panther Party. They discuss Fernández’s book, The Young Lords: A Radical History, which highlights the multiracial dimensions, innovative urban strategies, and global solidarities of the Black Freedom Struggle. Read about the event and find related resources.