Black AF History The Un-Whitewashed Story of America

There are people who bought Michael Harriot's Black AF history, right, and said, oh, this is interesting. Let me talk to my audience about it.

So what this book is, is the story of black people in America. And so we ain't talking about James Garfield's political campaign. We're talking about what black people were going to our perspectives and the unwhite watched, the unerased stories that we've been missing from our history books.

Like for instance, like nobody, like when I used to ask people about head rights and they always say, what was that? And I was like, oh, y'all didn't know like the first people that came to America got 50 acres for every slave that they brought here.

So people were thinking like, oh, the slaves came here to do the white people's work and to make them wealthy. And I was like, no, the slaves is what made the white people wealthy, right? But nobody knows about head rights.

And it was how the blue blood families of this country gained their wealth, not from owning the stuff that slaves produced, but the actual bodies of the slaves is what gave them their power and their intergenerational wealth that is still persist to this day.

It's coming out in January of 23.

The book is a look at America through black people's eyes. So we've seen books about black people through black people's eyes and history books about America through white with a white lens. But this is about America through black people's eyes.

it uses humor, uses the way we talk to each other. And it shows and it pulls no punches and unwhite washes the mythology that we always been taught to believe since we got into social studies class.

I started reading it over the holidays when I was on vacation. And it's one of those books that I've gotten a lot through it. But you keep going back because you're going to have your highlighter. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Constantly going through it.

I think there is a way because first of all, there's a lot of smart black people who you can communicate with who also know like regular people like me and you who know how to write and write and write and overlay information.

You created a book that's super smart, but it's also highly entertaining. I don't think it's dumbed down at all.

The book is a look at America through black people's eyes. So we've seen books about black people through black people's eyes and history books about America through the white lens. But this is about America through black people's eyes.

And it's funny, you know, because I wrote the book like how we talk to each other. So, you know, we could be at a funeral and be like, oh God, I can't believe she wore that hat. That's right. And so, you know, it uses humor. It uses the way we talk to each other and it shows and it pulls no punches and unwhite washes the mythology that we always been taught to believe since we got into social studies class.

I think you should read Michael Harriot's Black AF History. That's what it's called.

Oh, I'll tell you a good book. Read Michael Harriot's Black AF History. That's what it's called.

Go deeper and get more to the story with Wondery's top history podcasts, including American Scandal, Legacy, and Black History for Real.