[Video] Ella Baker: The Mother of the Civil Rights Movement

TeenSHARP's Black History Challenge

Welcome to TeenSHARP's Black History Challenge! Are you ready?

Module 1: Foundations in Black History

[Video] Dr. Asa Hillard III discusses what most don't learn about African civilization (8:13)
[Read] "The Case for Reparations" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
[Assignment] Interview someone in your family about "The Case for Reparations"
[Read] "A Homemade Education" by Malcolm X
[Video] James Baldwin discusses racism
[Read] How Carter G. Woodson turned February into Black History Month
[Read] "I was raised by giants" by Ronald Hollis (TeenSHARP '23)
[Read] "A Living Textbook of US History" by Samiah Sudler-Brooks (TeenSHARP '22)
[Video] Evidence That Ancient Greece Learned From Black Egyptians by Molefi Asante
[Video] Untold history of women-led slave revolts by Rebecca Hall

Module 2: What You Probably Didn't Know About Healthcare in Black History

[Video] Freedom House Ambulance: The First Responders
[Video] What you don't know about the Black Panthers
[Video] Meet CNN Hero, Dr. Ala Stanford (20:42)
[Video] Meet Dr. Velma Scantlebury and Dr. Cydney Teal (25:44)
[Read] How tens of thousands of Black U.S. doctors simply vanished by Dr. Uche' Blackstock
[Read] How one student was determined despite her diagnosis
[Video] The Untold Story of Black Nurses Who Helped Cure Tuberculosis

Module 3: Black History in Business, Entrepreneurship, and the Economy

[Video] The Overlooked Stories of America's Black Wall Streets
[Video] "She Did That" documentary about Black women entrepreneurs
[Video] Meet Nicaila Matthews Okome and Rachel Rodgers on Side Hustle Pro podcast
[Read] "Black Men Pitch Too" by Diyaaldeen Whitaker (TeenSHARP '16)
[Video] Madam C.J. Walker's Great-Great-Granddaughter Shares Little Told Story of Activism

Module 4: Black History, Legacy, and Innovation in Education

[Read] Florida’s governor and the College Board do not get to decide how we learn Black history
[Video] Critical Race Theory and The Obstruction of Black Education with Dr. Ivory Toldson
[Video] What If I Told You 'Sesame Street' Was Created For Blacks
[Video] Author and writer, Rann Miller, talks about the importance of reading (7:02)
[Video] "The End of Affirmative Action" Documentary featuring TeenSHARP!
[Read] "A Quest to Reclaim Black Brilliance" by Amadou Tine (TeenSHARP '18)
[Assignment] Support the #WeNeedBlackTeachers campaign

Module 5: Black History in Politics and Government

[Video] The History Of Black Voter Suppression — And The Fight For The Right To Vote
[Video] Meet US Senator Lisa Blunt-Rochester - the first woman and the first African-American to represent Delaware in the US Senate (23:33)
[Video] Philadelphia City Councilman, Anthony Phillips, talks about politics and service (22:53)
[Read] Explore the U.S. Elite’s Ties to Slavery
[Read] Amanda Eric (TeenSHARP '21 / Pomona '25) Awarded Obama-Chesky Scholarship for Public Service
[Quiz] How politically engaged are you?

Module 6: The Legacy of Black Activism and Resistance

[Video] Ella Baker: The Mother of the Civil Rights Movement
[Video] The Largest Slave Rebellion Was Hidden From U.S. History
[Video] The story of Bayard Rustin, openly gay leader in the civil rights movement
[Video] Black Women and the Right to Vote
[Read] "Facing my true self" by Fatima Toure (TeenSHARP '23)

Module 7: Black History in Arts & Culture

[Video] Questlove’s ‘Summer of Soul’ tells long-forgotten story of Harlem Cultural Festival
[Read] Issa Rae and Hollywood’s Unkept Promises
[Video] Paul Robeson | The First Black Star
[Assignment] Memorize and recite Langston Hughes' poem "I, Too" (1:29)
[Video] Sheryl Lee Ralph Emmy Acceptance Speech
[Read] "Finding my voice through music" by Seun Ogundimu (TeenSHARP '22 / Harvard '26)

Module 7: Black History in Sports that you Probably Didn't Know

[Video] Documentary "The League" highlights the history of the Negro League
[Video] The story behind the historic 1968 Olympic protest
[Video] Did you know about the Black legacy in surfing?
[Video] Did you know about the Black history in golf?
[Video] How Black Athletes Shaped The Sport Of Hockey As We Know It
[Read] Elite university admissions for athletes benefit white students
[Listen] Mabel Fairbanks: The Icebreaker
[Read] A Scholar and an Athlete by Anthony Morton (TeenSHARP '20 / Bates College '24)

Module 8: Black Writers, Thinkers, and Visionaries

[Listen] MLK Jr. Drum Major Instinct Sermon
[Read] Remembering Afrofuturist Octavia Butler
[Read] Maya Angelou "Still I Rise"
[Video] Amanda Gorman, "The Hill We Climb"
[Video] Bryan Stevenson - We Need to Talk About an Injustice
[Video] Isabel Wilkerson - The Great Migration and the power of a single decision

Module 9: Black History in Science, Technology, Engineering & Math

[Video] NASA Trailblazer: Katherine Johnson
[Video] Astronaut Ron McNair delivers commencement address at the University of South Carolina
[Video] Dr. Marian Croak: Inventor of VOIP
[Read] Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett helped unlock the science of the COVID vaccine
[Read] "Black Boys Build Robots Too" by David Miller (TeenSHARP '20 / MIT '24)

Module 10: International Affairs, Pan-Africanism, and Black History

[Video] The American Diplomat: The legacies of three African-American ambassadors
[Video] Who is Patrice Lumumba? And why did the US and Belgium plot to kill him?
[Read] Hidden in Plain Sight: How Pan-African Group The East Shaped Brooklyn
[Video] Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah and the dream of uniting Africa

Module 11: Taking Action & Building Upon Black History

[Read] TeenSHARP's secret to helping Black and Latino students attend college with minimal debt
[Read] Want to do community organizing? Here's a guide!
[Assignment] Get involved with a Black-led nonprofit organization. Here's a directory!
[Assignment] Invite a Black leader to speak at your school or company

Lesson content locked

If you're already enrolled, you'll need to login.