In recent years, efforts to scrub Black history from the education system have grown increasingly urgent for right-wing groups. However, African Americans don’t have to rely on the school system to learn or understand our past. We are resourceful and come from a culture of oral historians who have passed critical information down through generations. While oral history is valuable, documenting that history is essential. In 1989, Bryan Stevenson, an attorney and social justice warrior, founded the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) to provide factual research and education on racial injustice, to ensure the history around systemic racism and the fight against it is never lost.
EJI has published a number of books that do just that. The good part is that they are affordable, selling for just $6 on the organization’s website.
As we celebrate this last day of Black History Month, there is no better occasion to dive deep into Black Americans’ history and experiences and carry the learning beyond this honorific month. BLACK ENTERPRISE selected six insightful books from the Equal Justice Initiative that provide knowledge and context of Black historical events and facts. Readers can gain a deep understanding of the past and its ongoing impact on the present. By knowing our history, we empower ourselves to confront the current racial challenges.
Race And The Jury
The Race and the Jury report prepared by the Equal Justice Initiative takes a long, hard look at widespread racial discrimination in jury selection in courtrooms across the U.S. legal system. The report outlines how Black individuals and other people of color are systematically excluded from participating in jury duty at different stages. This exclusion undermines the fairness of trials for marginalized people. Discrimination from the jury process not only weakens public trust but compromises the integrity of the justice system. The report emphasizes reforms that ensure diverse and representative juries.
Segregation In America
The Segregation in America report showed the resistance of many white Americans to the Civil Rights Movement. White people’s opposition to Black people having the rights due them as outlined by Constitutional Law was well established and, in many cases, involved violence to uphold racial segregation and prevent progress toward equality. The Equal Justice Initiative stresses that acknowledging this large-scale resistance is crucial to understanding today’s racial disparities. Confronting this history is necessary to work toward a more just and inclusive society.
Lynching In America
Lynching was a violent strategy used to intimidate Black citizens into accepting racial oppression and upholding segregation in the United States. The Lynching in America report lists over 4,400 lynchings that were racially motivated and took place between the Reconstruction Era and World War II. The report pays special attention to the overwhelming support for these horrific acts. They were spectacle and entertainment for racists. Many of these murders were carried out publicly to terrorize Black communities and reinforce white supremacy. The in-depth report highlights the lasting impact of racial terror throughout the Jim Crow Era and its role in shaping racial injustice today.
Reconstruction In America
The Reconstruction in America report from the Equal Justice Initiative uncovers nearly 2,000 additional confirmed racial terror lynchings of Black people by white mobs, expanding our understanding of this violent chapter in Black history. It focuses on the 12 years after the Civil War, a time when white leaders fostered lawlessness and violence to establish a society built on racial inequality, white dominance, and Jim Crow laws. This period marked the beginning of a long-lasting legacy of systemic racism that still affects the country today. The report highlights the consequences of this era and the need for continued efforts toward racial justice and reconciliation.
Slavery In America
The book Slavery in America by the Equal Justice Initiative examines the horrific history of the transatlantic slave trade, where millions of Africans were kidnapped and transported to the Americas under brutal conditions. Around two million people died during the journey, and the enslavement of Black people helped build wealth and prosperity for many in the U.S. Montgomery was a region that participated in the slave trade, having been notorious for their slave market where the riverfront auctioned slaves. The site of the Montgomery slave trade is a stone’s throw from Stevens’ EJI center. The Legacy Museum, dedicated to those who were lynched, is the site of a former slave warehouse.
The Transatlantic Slave Trade
From 1501 to 1867, millions of Africans were stolen, shipped across the Atlantic Ocean, and enslaved in the Americas. Africans forced into chattel slavery suffered separation from their families and cultures. Coastal cities in the U.S., such as New York, Charleston and New Orleans, developed slave economies built on the exploitation and ownership of Black people. The Equal Justice Initiative’s report looks at the lasting economic impact of the Transatlantic Slave Trade and how it created wealth for Europeans and white Americans while also reinforcing a hierarchy informed by race. This dark chapter in history continues to shape racial disparities that persist in America today.
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