ABC7 Unite: Inside 'The Historymakers,' the nation's largest African American video oral history archive
NEW YORK (WABC) -- All this month, Eyewitness News is examining the importance of teaching "Black History as American History" to all children.
The creator of a Black history archive is helping future generations learn about the many accomplishments of African Americans, past and present.
"We just lost Hank Aaron, we just lost Cicely Tyson," said Julieanna Richardson, "The Historymakers" Founder and President. "They're leaving here in rapid succession."
Richardson has made it her life's mission to make sure the accomplishments of people like Aaron and Tyson are not forgotten.
"The Historymakers" is the nation's largest African American video oral history archive.
"I want to give the Black community their place in history. And I want to make sure we leave a documentary record," she said.
"The Historymakers" is essentially a digital repository for the Black experience. Its nearly 3,400 interviews include leaders in 15 different categories, from the arts, to business, to politics, medicine, and religion.
Many of them are well-known.
Even a young Barack Obama, then a senator from Illinois, thinking about his future.
"My career is still largely ahead of me as opposed to behind me," Former President Obama said in the archive.
Others were not famous at all but succeeded despite the odds.
Their stories formed the backbone, not just of Black history, but also of America's history, like chemist Sondra Akins.
"That was the way to disprove the myth of Black inferiority," Akins said.
As the list of "Historymakers" continues to grow, the hope is that the unique, first-person testimony will give future generations a more complete look at the lives and legacy of African Americans.
"We wanted to be able to show all the areas we have impacted not only U.S. society but the world," Richardson said.
"The Historymakers" one-of-a-kind collection is housed permanently at the Library of Congress.
RELATED: ABC7 Unite: Museum founded by 2 women displays historical Black contributions in NJ
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RESOURCES
We are also publishing resources in a range of areas, which will grow and can be found below:
Ways to Help
National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform
Voices of Community Activists & Leaders (VOCAL-NY)
Black LGBTQIA + Migrants Project
Teaching the Next Generation
Creating Space To Talk About Racism At Your School
Teaching for Black Lives - Rethinking Schools
Black-Owned Bookstores in New York and New Jersey
The Little Boho Bookshop (Bayonne)
Books
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children In A Racially Unjust America by Jennifer Harvey
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
Podcasts
Movies
American Son: Available on Netflix
If Beale Street Could Talk: Available on Hulu
Just Mercy: Available on Amazon Prime
Selma: Available on Amazon Prime
The Hate U Give: Available on Amazon Prime
When They See Us: Available on Netflix
Documentaries
13th: Available on Netflix
America Inside Out with Katie Couric: Available on National Geographic
Becoming: Available on Netflix
I am Not Your Negro: Available on YouTube
