White History It's Even Worse Than I Thought

[aMhayes]

I suspect I’m one of a small handful of Black indie writers who write an African-American Historical Fiction series.
 I post daily on Instagram what I call this date in “white history.” It’s not Black history because to quote my favorite African Proverb: “Until the lion tells the story, the hunter will always be the hero.”

 

Every day, I post an episode of white history describing murders of men, women, and children, court rulings declaring us less than human, and terrorism directed toward Black Americans somewhere in America. It’s called “this date in white history.” When you understand their history, you must write about it. We need to tell people about white history. The Klan bombed a civil rights icon’s home in Birmingham on December 25, 1956. On Xmas day!
Teach white people their history of violence and bigotry. Will it make a difference? I don't know

[richardmurray]

Will you display your definition of historical fiction @aMhayes ? I ask because one thing I have learned looking at what I call, the black film industry in the usa,  is mosttimes, what black people do in an industry or artistic sector doesn't match what white people do but doesn't make it invalidated. 

To the example I suggest. Black people made so many home movies in the usa. And black churches were the traditional viewing place for black theater- shuffle along/black films- like oscar micheaux in most black communities, not theaters. so the black film industry with  black churches as its traditional gathering place of viewing is structurally different than the white film industry. Same to black stage, where the black church is the primary viewing spot historically, so... 

To that end, are black people in the usa, writing historical fiction like whites? no. First black people do have an oral base, as zora neale hurston's works prove, because of our enslavement, black history/culture was emitted through oral means mostly till the end of reconstruction where the black community in the usa, went on a literary route, albeit with one flaw, being a discarding of our oral heritage and how to bridge it in the world of allowed literacy.

So, I know in this very group @Milton does historical fiction, in the zone of biographical fiction 

 

So I think you are far from alone Amhayes, but the way in which many black artist compose historical fiction i think differs from ala morte d'arthur sort of arrangement. 

[nels]

On 12/5/2023 at 1:32 PM, aMhayes said:

Teach white people their history of violence and bigotry.

So, when someone is both black (slave-descendant or not) and (non-oppressor) white, how would they decompose and interpret this? If you're white and had absolutely no control of the thoughts and actions of your ancestors, what would you learn? The same could possibly be said of blacks and their current day history of rampant (blame-everyone else) black-on-black crime, self-hate and denial. What will their descendants think? Violence is violence, any way you cut it.