Black History Month 2: Black History is American History

Before you go on, an article in the May 8 & May 22, 2021 issue of Science News ran with a cover "Awash in Deception: How science can help us avoid being duped by misinformation." In the lead article titled: "The Battle Against Fake News," Alexandra Witze presents five suggestions on how to debunk bad information. They come from the News Literacy Project (see the above link).

How to Debunk:

1. Arm yourself with media literacy skills, at sites such as the News Literacy Project (newslit.org), to better understand how to spot hoax videos and stories.

2. Don't stigmatize people for holding inaccurate beliefs. Show empathy and respect, or you're more likely to alienate your audience than successfully share accurate information.

3. Translate complicated but true ideas into simple messages that are easy to grasp. Videos, graphics and other visual aids can help.

4. When possible, once you provide a factual alternative to the misinformation, explain the underlying fallacies (such as cherry- picking information, a common tactic of climate change deniers.

5. Mobilize when you see misinformation being shared on social media as soon as possible. If you see something, say something.

"Misinformation is any information that is incorrect, whether due to error or fake news.

"Disinformation is deliberately intended to deceive."

"Propaganda is disinformation with a political agenda."

Sander van der Linden
Social Psychologist
University of Cambridge

Source: Science News/May 8, 2021 & May 22, 2021

Update: September 22, 2023: This is more important now than ever. Be vigilant and speak in your own way. Love Wins.

In the spirit of how to debunk misinformation and disinformation, I encourage you to examine The Financial Services Forum, The American Accountability Foundation, The Epoch Times, Fox News, and One America Network(OAN), among others, using the media literacy skills taught by the News Literacy Project from #1 above under "How to Debunk."  Click on the News Literacy Project link to start your work.

Black history is American history (A satirical clip from Michael Moore’s “Bowling for Columbine” 2002 summarizes American history in 3:42).

Any honest depiction of a comprehensive history of the United States must include Black history. More broadly speaking , Black history aside from being a story of the African diaspora in America for the past 500 years, is the story that serves as a spotlight on what it means to not have white skin in America. That is a story for another month, but one that is inextricably joined at the hip with Black History.

Perhaps it is more accurate to say that American history is merely a part of the larger story of America’s Black history. Black history is a comprehensive look at the whole of history not just cherry picked parts of it. The study of Black history is the study of long suffering as laid out in the Bible. Black history is the study of politics and the patience and perseverance required to pass the Civil Rights Act and to add the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution after the Civil War. Black history is the history of the struggle of women to be treated as equals to men. Black history is enduring unspeakable physical and emotional abuse and teaching what forgiveness looks like. Black history is enduring the ravages of time knowing that a greater kingdom awaits. Black History is raw and honest unlike White History.

Studying and at least partially understanding Black history opens up the window to the soul of America. It also opens up the window to truth, reconciliation and healing that will help mend our torn nation.

Black history is more important than white history. It is the real deal. It is the flesh and blood reality of the idealism set forth in the Constitution. All of the happy and all of the sad. It is the real deal. Nothing sugar-coated about it. It’s the real thing.

Black history is the thing that white America doesn’t want to hear, but must hear. As this Black History Month draws to a close, don’t let your interest in it fade away just because it is no longer February. Read, watch, talk and listen to America through the lens of Black History. We continue to ignore it at our peril.

Here’s some material to help in our continuing study of Black history.

Peace be with you.