Michael Harriot’s book “Black AF History” highlights lesser-known areas of Black history in the United States, drawing attention to both the oppression faced by Black people and their resilience in fighting against it.

The book’s tone: Harriot’s work pulls no punches and cleverly blends humor with raw storytelling.
* He explicitly states how “the story of America is a fantastical, overwrought, and fictive tale. And it is a history predicated on lies.”

Unearthed history: Harriot’s book shines a light on various erased historical moments in Black history, both devastating and victorious for the Black community.
* He explains how enslaved people skilled at growing rice saved “the entire Carolina economic system from collapse.”
* Harriot documents the period during which formerly enslaved people were granted and then had taken away 40 acres of land.
* Relentless accounts of Black resistance and resilience are showcased throughout the book.

Black political power post-Emancipation: Harriot details the political successes of the formerly enslaved soon after Emancipation.
* South Carolina’s Black majority elected its first Black secretary of state in 1868.
* Black voter registration was over 90% in Mississippi and Alabama, resulting in the first Black man in the U.S. Senate.

Sabotage of Black political power: The book also covers how legal and extrajudicial means were used to undercut Black political victories.
* Harriot shows how Louisiana changed its state constitution in 1898, requiring a literacy test which effectively cut Black voter registration from over 90% to less than 3%.
* Extrajudicial responses included violent acts such as the Klan “opening fire at a rally of twenty-eight hundred Black people,” leading to suppression of the Black vote.

Harriot’s perspective: Despite the book’s occasional humor, Harriot never shies away from the brutality inflicted upon Black people or the significant role of Black women in freedom struggles.
* He pays tribute to Ida B. Wells’s groundbreaking anti-lynching work.
* Personal history and anecdotes from Harriot’s own family are woven into the narrative.

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