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Social media & its Affect on the Way Black History Understood?
To me, this is a really nuanced question, but to put it as bluntly as I can:
“Positively, to some degree, but mainly negatively, and the reason is more historically rooted than we may realize.”
I recently read the essay, A Stranger In The Village, by James Baldwin, a man I have much respect for (he was so far ahead of his time).
I encourage anyone and everyone who has not read it to read it. Although the essay was written in 1953, it speaks even louder to the constant struggles of being a Black individual in an otherwise white, modern, society.
Baldwin noted the quintessential issue all Black individuals face, in this quote:
“People are trapped in history (speaking of the African American experience’s lack of prominence until later in European/American culture) and history is trapped in them (the unconscious biases/hurdles as a result of the lack of prominence).”
When you ponder on the depth of that quote, you begin to see that the African American experience will always be playing catchup in a historical race that started long before it was ever able to run.
History (American and European) is told or recounted from a lens that usually isn’t Black. As Baldwin mentioned our culture can…
