Why Michael Harriot鈥檚 History of America is 鈥淏lack AF鈥�

Sep 21, 2023

What happens when a Black storyteller subverts the white supremacist cultural lens through which history is told? For example, what if, rather than 鈥渋ntrepid conquerors,鈥� the first white settlers of the United States were more accurately viewed as 鈥渋ncompetent thieving cannibals鈥�? That鈥檚 the kind of approach to history that acclaimed journalist and historian adopts in his new book, .

Harriot is host of the podcast and a columnist at , where he covers the intersection of race, politics, and culture. He spoke with YES! Racial Justice Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on YES Presents: Rising Up With Sonali about his new book.

Sonali Kolhatkar joined YES! in summer 2021, building on a long and decorated career in broadcast and print journalism. She is an award-winning multimedia journalist, and host and creator of聽YES! Presents: Rising Up with Sonali, a nationally syndicated television and radio program airing on Free Speech TV and dozens of independent and community radio stations. She is also Senior Correspondent with the Independent 麻豆社事件 Institute鈥檚 Economy for All project where she writes a weekly column. She is the author of聽Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice聽(2023) and聽Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence聽(2005). Her forthcoming book is called聽Talking About Abolition聽(Seven Stories Press, 2025). Sonali is co-director of the nonprofit group, Afghan Women鈥檚 Mission which she helped to co-found in 2000. She has a Master鈥檚 in Astronomy from the University of Hawai鈥檌, and two undergraduate degrees in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Texas at Austin. Sonali reflects on 鈥淢y Journey From Astrophysicist to Radio Host鈥� in her 2014聽聽of the same name.