Do you have a conception of history outside of the gaze of hegemony? In other words, do you still believe the stale, historically inaccurate, imperialists conceptions of human history that we learn in schools? What do you know of about specific cultural black histories, like the rise of stripper and burlesque culture in the South or the British conquest of the Caribbean? There are people who are dedicated to digging through the archives and making this kind of culturally competent history accessible to the average person. Use this playlist to dive into the histories that shape our present moment!
Link: https://bit.ly/historiansblackdirectory
This playlist is apart of my new years drop for 2024, and I want to take some time to reflect on this mission I set out on 3 years ago, a year into the pandemic. From the time that I started this initiative to now, I'm found such a diverse array of creators. I watch and stash away every video I put in this playlist yall. That looks like me following the community tabs of YouTube creators to see who they're watching and reccommending. That means searching through comments sections for creators that have plugged themselves. That means scrolling through my YouTube feed, past a sea of pale faces, to add videos to my water later for categorization at a later date. That SHOULD NOT BE NECCESARY to access the wealth of information people are providing for free online.
People perform the public good of immortalizing sources, analysing historical documents, and producing a well-researched documentary for others to learn more about things they care about. And barely any of the people in these playlists are doing all this for a liveable wage. This is what true, passionate scholarship looks like, yet without the authoritative backing of academia, content creators online are meant to primarily sustain themselves on the good will of mutal aid from their audience members.
I propose a radical intervention: this work should be public funded. I want want my tax dollars going towards educational content online. I want there to be more creative grants that film makers can apply to susuatin themselves long term for the public good they provide people. Liberate online scholars from having to pander to an algorithm that force feeds fetish content to child. Allow them the space to use the language that best describes their experiences without having to worry about their channel getting demonetized.
I'm not sure exactly who I'd talk to about proposing this, so if you do let me know. I'm mimimal informed about civic engagement in this capacity, but you know what? I bet there's a YouTuber out there that will teach me all about it.
Current Playlists: Care Package, Hustlin’ , Wizzy's #socialmediatalks ,
Pop Cultural Studies  , The 20's Toolkit , Historians , (Neuro)spicy Toolkit