TMT Insights Celebrates Black History Month

TMT Celebrates Black History Month

February is Black History Month. To honor and celebrate Black history and culture, we’ve put together a list of books, podcasts, shows and movies we’d like to share and invite you to join us in honoring the triumphs and struggles of African Americans throughout U.S. history.

Podcasts

  • Code Switch – Named Apple Podcasts’ first-ever “Show of the Year” in 2020, Code Switch explores how race affects every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, food and everything in between.
  • 1619 – Pulitzer Prize-winner, Nikole Hannah-Jones and New York Times bring you an audio series that begins with the founding of the U.S. as an independent democracy and journeys through the impacts of chattel slavery, capitalism, Black music, and health care and housing discrimination.
  • Questlove Supreme – Questlove and Team Supreme can deliver a fun, irreverent and educational weekly podcast that explores the stories of musical legends and cultural icons.
  • Black Girl Gone: A True Crime Podcast – This true crime podcast shines a light on the all too often ignored cases of Black women who have gone missing or have fallen victim to murder.

Books

  • Between the World and Me – Ta-Nehisi Coates’ exceptionally powerful and beautifully written memoir is a series of essays that takes the form of an open letter to his son about race in America.
  • Beloved – Nobel Prize-winner Toni Morrison masterfully authors a tale of endurance, pain, heartache and power, following the story of a woman named Sethe, who is born into slavery and escapes to Ohio.
  • The Warmth of Other Suns – Pulitzer Prize-winner Isabel Wilkerson tells the historical account of the Great Migration. After interviewing more than one thousand people, Wilkerson beautifully tells the story of the times through the lives of three unique people, capturing each of their journeys to new cities, the hardships they endured and the new lives that they made for themselves and their future generations.
  • Black Fortunes – Shomari Wills tells the stories of the first six self-made African-American millionaires. This book recounts how their determination, resilience and achievements shaped and altered the social order and influenced both Black and business history.

Series / Specials

  • High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America (Netflix) – Chef and writer Stephen Satterfield traces the origins of African-American cuisine, tracing through lines from Africa to Texas.
  • Kevin Hart’s Guide To Black History (Netflix) – Kevin Hart highlights the fascinating contributions of Black history’s unsung heroes in this entertaining and educational comedy special.
  • Dear White People (Netflix) – Based on the acclaimed film of the same name, this series follows a group of students of color at Winchester University, a predominantly white Ivy League college where students are faced with cultural bias, social injustice, misguided activism and slippery politics.
  • Woke (Apple TV) – Inspired by the life and work of artist Keith Knight, comedy series WOKE takes an absurdly irreverent look at identity and culture as it follows Keef, an African-American cartoonist finally on the verge of mainstream success when an unexpected incident changes everything.

Movies / Documentaries

  • King in the Wilderness (HBO) – Emmy winner for “Outstanding Historical Documentary”, King In The Wilderness chronicles the last years of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life as well as interviews about the MLK Jr.’s life from his friends during that period.
  • Summer of Soul (HULU) – This powerful and transporting documentary is part music film, part historical record created around The Harlem Culture festival, an epic event that celebrated Black history, culture and fashion. Over the course of six weeks in the summer of 1969, just one hundred miles south of Woodstock.
  • One Night in Miami (Amazon Prime Video) – On the night of Feb. 25, 1964, in Miami, Cassius Clay joins Jim Brown, Sam Cooke and Malcom X, and they discuss the responsibility of being successful black men during the civil rights movement.
  • Self Made (Netflix) – ased on a true story, this series revolves around the inspirational life of Madam C.J. Walker, an African American washerwoman who rose from poverty to build a beauty empire and become the first female self-made millionaire.