Impressions & Takeaways
Michael Harriot’s Black AF History delivers a rollercoaster of emotions. While it covers true history of Black folk in the U.S., it does so with wit and humor at times, necessary to cover such topics that can easily and do cause anger, despair and frustration. Harriot manages to keep the book entertaining and engaging throughout its run.
Harriot takes us on a journey from the brutal slave trade to the complex realities of the Reconstruction era, Jim Crow laws, the civil rights movement, and beyond.
The tone and language makes this book a great read. Rather than approaching it with a purely academic and dry tone, Harriot tells stories and uses humor and wit to keep the reader engaged. This is not to say that the book is not educational. It certainly is. Harriot gives us the detailed history of how African people were brought to the Americas, stripped of their names, culture and humanity. He retells stories of violence and oppression aimed at the Black community. Even more engaging are the stories and experiences of everyday Black people. From the enslaved to the Bourgeoisie, from the rebellious to the orgainzers and everyday people that resisted, or aided, in the continual oppression. Harriot emphasizes Black agency, resistance, and cultural production, even in the face of overwhelming oppression.
One of my favorite aspects of Harriot’s book is that he addresses and confronts the arguments made by otherwise less enlightened (or downright willfully ignorant) such as reparations and the re-writing of history.
It’s both personal and educational, engaging readers with wit, sarcasm and a depth of historically accurate information. A must read.