black History in Two Minutes (or so)
Black History in Two Minutes (or so) is the new way to immerse yourself in Black History. The digital video series features dozens of short, engaging and factually accurate videos about important historical events or people who have shaped American history. Like never before, people of all ages, backgrounds and educational levels can learn more about the African American experience.
Launched in 2019 by visionary Executive Producer Robert F. Smith, who is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, the media platform has covered topics from the beginning of American history to the present day. To ensure historical accuracy, the episodes are well researched and narrated by renowned historian and Executive Producer, Henry Louis Gates Jr. Teaching guides for educators also accompany some of the episodes, affording teachers the ability to incorporate the information from the videos, and the videos themselves, into their lessons.
As an award-winning series, Black History in Two Minutes has received numerous accolades, including two Webby Awards in 2020, 2 more in 2021 and yet again, 1 more in 2022.
Check out some of the episodes for yourself below.
The Movement and Campus Violence
College campuses became integral in the quest for social reform in the 1960s. With large numbers of Black students already present,…
Henrietta Lacks: The Woman with the Immortal Cells
In February 1951, a young African-American woman by the name of Henrietta Lacks was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cervical cancer.…
Job Ben Solomon
In 1730, Job Ben Solomon — a Senegalese man and active slave trader — was captured during an excursion in the Gambian River region. Once…
The Birth of the Black Panthers
Electrified by the rhetoric of Malcolm X, founding members Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale created an organization aimed at protecting the…
Protesting the Birth of a Nation
In 1915, D.W. Griffith, released a film that would go down as one of the most disturbing representations of black Americans ever, The Birth…
Robert Smalls: A Slave Who Sailed Himself to Freedom….
Robert Smalls was born into slavery and pushed into fighting for the Confederacy during the Civil War. However, at the age of 23, he took a…