This Black History month, spend some time educating yourself about Black inventors, Black inventions, as well as our own local Black business owners.
If you want to take your learning one step further, enroll in a free college course about Black history.
Here are a few suggestions to get you started:
African American History: From Emancipation to the Present — Yale
The purpose of this course is to examine the African American experience in the United States from 1863 to the present day. Prominent themes include the end of the Civil War and the beginning of Reconstruction; African Americans’ urbanization experiences; the development of the modern civil rights movement and its aftermath; and the thought and leadership of Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, W.E.B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X.
African American History: The Modern Freedom Struggle — Stanford University
This course introduces the student to African American history, with particular emphasis on the political thought and protest movements of the period after 1930, focusing on selected individuals who have shaped and been shaped by modern African American struggles for freedom and justice.
African American Studies — UCLA
An intensive introduction to African American political thought that focuses on major ideological trends and political philosophies as they have been applied and interpreted by African Americans. Elements of the class include debates and conflicts in Black political thought, historical contest of African American social movements, and discussions of the relationship between Black political thought and major trends in Western thought.
Race and Cultural Diversity in American Life and History — University of Illinois
Learners will deepen their understanding and appreciation of ways in which race, ethnicity and cultural diversity have shaped American institutions, ideology, law, and social relationships from the colonial era to the present. The primary focus is on the historical and social relationships among European Americans, Native Americans, African Americans, Latino/as, and Asian/Pacific Americans. Issues of race and ethnicity are examined across different ethno-cultural traditions in order to interweave diverse experiences into a larger synthesis of the meaning of race and ethnicity in American life.
From Freedom Rides to Ferguson: Narratives of Nonviolence in the American Civil Rights Movement — Emory University
This course sheds light on the often overlooked strategic planning that supported the direction of the Modern Civil Rights Movement and is told by a voice intimately involved in the organization of movement — Dr. Bernard LaFayette, Jr. Topics include the history of the campaigns, the different coalitions and groups, philosophy and methods of nonviolent direct action, and the contemporary application of nonviolent conflict transformation. The course hosts several guest speakers, including Andrew Young, Reverend C.T. Vivian, Henry “Hank” Thomas, and Constance Curry.
America Through Foreign Eyes — Rice University
This course is a rich, interdisciplinary, international course that features Rice University faculty from a variety of disciplines and area studies. Focused on perceptions of America abroad, the course is a cross between World Cultures and American Studies. The course features five core modules, each covering the perceptions and interactions of particular regions with America, Americans, and Americanization.
Police Brutality in America Teach-Out — University of Michigan
The tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery have sparked a wave of renewed protests against police brutality across the United States. These nationwide uprisings have transformed into an intense interest from the public around understanding systemic racism and abuse of power. Learn about the history of police violence in America, become aware of laws and policies that prevent accountability, understand the demands of protesters, and gain the knowledge and tools to fight for change locally.
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