The ‘Beautiful Experiments’ Left Out of Black History

02/08/21 • 49 min

1 Listener

Cultural historian Saidiya Hartman introduces Kai to the young women whose radical lives were obscured by respectability politics, in the second installment of our Future of Black History series.

The MacArthur fellow is the author of “Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Riotous Black Girls, Troublesome Women, and Queer Radicals,” which offers an intimate look into some of the Black lives that have been seemingly erased from the history books -- simply for not fitting into the box.

Through a series of readings, we explore the complicated role of Black intellectuals like W.E.B DuBois, the Black family and how a damaging moralism continues to inform the policing of marginalized communities, public space and American cultural politics today.

Companion listening for this episode:

“The Origin Story of Black History Month” (01/31/21)

To launch our Future of Black History series, we turned our complex relationships with Black History Month to curiosity in order to uncover how a week-long celebration of Black Achievement became the month-long observance that we know today.

“The Life and Work of Ida B. Wells” (05/08/20)

We look back at the life of the oft-overlooked journalist and activist Ida B. Wells, whose intrepid reporting contributed to the fight for racial injustice in America.

“The United States of Anxiety” airs live on Sunday evenings at 6pm ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts. To catch all the action, tune into the show on Sunday nights via the stream on WNYC.org/anxiety or tell your smart speakers to play WNYC.

Tell us what you think. We're @noteswithkai on Instagram and X (Twitter). Email us at [email protected]. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or record one here.

Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.

Cultural historian Saidiya Hartman introduces Kai to the young women whose radical lives were obscured by respectability politics, in the second installment of our Future of Black History series.

Companion listening for this episode:

“The Origin Story of Black History Month” (01/31/21)

“The Life and Work of Ida B. Wells” (05/08/20)

We look back at the life of the oft-overlooked journalist and activist Ida B. Wells, whose intrepid reporting contributed to the fight for racial injustice in America.

Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.

Previous Episode

The Origin Story of Black History Month

We’ve got complicated relationships with this annual celebration -- from joy to frustration. So to launch our Future of Black History series, we ask how it began and what it can be.

Producer Veralyn Williams invites us into a lively conversation about her annual Black History Month parties -- before COVID-19 social distancing was imposed -- with some friends of the show.

Then, Dr. Pero Dagbovie, a University Distinguished Professor in the Department of History and an Associate Dean in the Graduate School at Michigan State University, introduces us to Dr. Carter G. Woodson - often called the “Father of Black History” - before explaining how a week-long celebration of Black Achievement at the turn of the 20th century evolved into the month-long observance that we know today.

Companion listening for this episode:

“The Life and Work of Ida B. Wells” (5/8/20)

She’s a bold-faced name of history -- but do you really know her story? She played a defining role in 20th Century American politics.

“Juneteenth, an Unfinished Business” (6/26/20)

Reflections on the annual celebration of Emancipation, from music to personal histories.

Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.

Next Episode

Impeachment: Catharsis and Impunity

The Senate’s trial and acquittal of Donald Trump left many with mixed emotions. But did it move us any closer to a reckoning with the worst of America’s political culture?

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Blight returns to the show to help Kai put the trial in historical context. Blight has warned that the former president is trying to create a Confederate-style Lost Cause mythology. So where’s that project stand now?

Then WNYC’s Brian Lehrer and The Nation’s Elie Mystal join Kai as he checks in with listeners about the impeachment trial. Did it serve any meaningful purpose in your life or community, or was it a disappointment? The answer, it seems, is both.

COMPANION LISTENING:

“The ‘Indoor Man’ and His Playmates” (10/02/18)

One caller reacted to the impeachment trial by making connections between domestic abusers and Donald Trump. Her call reminded us of this episode, in which Sara Fishko offers a history of the men’s liberation movement, and we consider its echo in the Trump era.

“MAGA, the New Confederate Lost Cause” (11/16/20)

Our first conversation with historian Douglas Blight, in which he explains how secessionist mythology survived after the Civil War and echoes in Donald Trump’s movement today.

Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.