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SUMMARY:Black History Month – MOVIES AND BOOKS
DESCRIPTION:February is Black History Month—a time not only to reflect, but to act.\nBeing a better community member means moving beyond statements of support and committing to everyday practices that strengthen equity, dignity, and belonging year-round.\nWays to Be a Better Community Member\n1. Listen and Learn (Then Keep Going)\n\nRead books, articles, and local histories by Black authors and scholars.\nAttend lectures, exhibits, and community conversations—especially those led by Black voices.\nLearn about local Black history, not just national figures.\n\n2. Support Black-Owned Businesses & Creatives\n\nShop local and be intentional with where you spend your money.\nHire Black professionals, artists, and vendors—and pay fair, competitive rates.\nShare and promote their work without asking for free labor.\n\n3. Show Up—Not Just Online\n\nAttend community events, forums, school board meetings, and neighborhood gatherings.\nVolunteer with organizations doing sustained, on-the-ground work.\nBe present even when it’s uncomfortable or inconvenient.\n\n4. Advocate for Equity in Systems\n\nSupport policies that address housing, healthcare, education, voting access, and economic fairness.\nAsk who is missing from decision-making tables—and help open doors.\nUse your voice in workplaces, boards, and civic groups to push for inclusive practices.\n\n5. Build Relationships, Not Performances\n\nCommunity is built through trust, consistency, and mutual respect.\nAvoid “one-month allyship.” Commit to long-term engagement.\nCenter collaboration, not credit.\n\n6. Reflect on Your Own Role\n\nExamine bias—personal and institutional—and be open to correction.\nAsk: How does my presence help make this space safer, fairer, or stronger?\nGrowth is ongoing; perfection isn’t the goal—progress is.\n\nBOOKS: RECOMMENDED READING.  https://revolutionbooks.org/african-american-history ( https://revolutionbooks.org/african-american-history )\n\n\n\nHow the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBy Clint Smith\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIn this award-winning nonfiction book from 2021, poet, journalist, and teacher Clint Smith embarks on a harrowing journey across America, exploring a side of the country that we rarely see. How the Word Is Passed documents the story of American slavery and its impact on the present day, reckoning with a legacy that all too often is taught through obscured half-truths. Smith takes readers to places like Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, where the founding father enslaved more than 400 people, and Louisiana’s Angola Prison, a maximum-security facility and former plantation named after the country from which most of its enslaved people were stolen. By reflecting on America’s violent past and offering a true accounting of the Black experience, Smith brings attention to the nation’s history in an effort to change our present.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFire Next Time\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBy James Baldwin\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNo list of books about American culture is complete without a work by James Baldwin. Released in 1963, Fire Next Time contains two groundbreaking essays. The first, “My Dungeon Shook: Letter to My Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Emancipation,” is a letter written to his 14-year-old nephew about the role of race and racism in American history. The second, “Down at the Cross: Letter from a Region in My Mind,” explores the intersection of race and religion in America. Baldwin’s landmark work galvanized readers across the nation as the Civil Rights Movement gained momentum. Today it stands as an indispensable examination of American race relations and a reckoning with the past, present, and future of our national identity.\n\n\n\n\nThe Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism\n“A stinging indictment of slavery.”—NPR Books\n“This book provides historical reference for the ways in which the enslavement of people for profit continues to impact and influence today’s institutions. A must‑read for everyone who has ever heard the statement, ‘But slavery is over! Why can’t they just get over it?’ or ‘Well, you know white people were slaves, too.’” —The Atlantic\nMOVIES: https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/important-films-about-the-black-experience/ ( https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/important-films-about-the-black-experience/ )\n\n\n\nJust Mercy ( https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/just_mercy ) (2019)\n\n\n\n\n\nCritics Consensus: Just Mercy dramatizes a real-life injustice with solid performances, a steady directorial hand, and enough urgency to overcome a certain degree of earnest advocacy.\nSynopsis: After graduating from Harvard, Bryan Stevenson heads to Alabama to defend those wrongly condemned or those not afforded proper representation. [More]\nStarring: Michael B. Jordan ( https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/michael_b_jordan ), Jamie Foxx ( https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/jamie_foxx ), Brie Larson ( https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/brie_larson ), Rob Morgan ( https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/important-films-about-the-black-experience/ )\nDirected By: Destin Daniel Cretton ( https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/destin_daniel_cretton )\n\n\n\n\n\nHidden Figures ( https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hidden_figures ) (2016)\n\n\n\n\n\nCritics Consensus: In heartwarming, crowd-pleasing fashion, Hidden Figures celebrates overlooked — and crucial — contributions from a pivotal moment in American history.\nSynopsis: Three brilliant African American women at NASA, Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, serve as the brains behind one [More]\nStarring: Taraji P. Henson ( https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/taraji_henson ), Octavia Spencer ( https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/octavia_spencer ), Janelle Monáe ( https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/janelle_monae ), Kevin Costner ( https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/kevin_costner )\nDirected By: Theodore Melfi ( https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/ted_melfi )\n\n\n\n\n\nI Am Not Your Negro ( https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_am_not_your_negro ) (2016)\n\n\n\n\n\nCritics Consensus: I Am Not Your Negro offers an incendiary snapshot of James Baldwin’s crucial observations on American race relations — and a sobering reminder of how far we’ve yet to go.\nSynopsis: In 1979, James Baldwin wrote a letter to his literary agent describing his next project, “Remember This House.” The book [More]\nStarring: Samuel L. Jackson ( https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/samuel_l_jackson )\nDirected By: Raoul Peck ( https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/raoul_peck )\n\n\n\n\n\n12 Years a Slave ( https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/12_years_a_slave ) (2013)\n\n\n\n\n\nCritics Consensus: It’s far from comfortable viewing, but 12 Years a Slave‘s unflinchingly brutal look at American slavery is also brilliant — and quite possibly essential — cinema.\nSynopsis: In the years before the Civil War, Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black man from upstate New York, is [More]\nStarring: Chiwetel Ejiofor ( https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/chiwetel-ejiofor ), Michael Fassbender ( https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/michael_fassbender ), Benedict Cumberbatch ( https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/benedict_cumberbatch ), Paul Dano ( https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/paul_dano )\nDirected By: Steve McQueen ( https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/steve_mcqueen_iii )\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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