A lot has happened since my last post. George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police officers, protests against his killing are being carried out across the country (and around the globe), and many cities have imposed curfews.

We’re a nation in crisis, but there are 400 years of history behind this crisis. And not all of us were taught that history in school. This week, many fellow non-Black people on my Facebook feed have expressed a desire to learn about it. I need to learn more about it, too.

I’ve seen a spate of posts about books and articles white people can to read to better understand the history of racism in the United States. That’s a great thing. But some people have trouble reading that much material. Are there audiovisual things people can reference?

Yes! Marie Claire suggests Documentaries About Black History to Educate Yourself With.

There are podcasts that can help, too. I’ve talked about my love of the podcast Stuff You Missed in History Class in at least one previous post. Since I happen to know that podcast well, tonight I put together a list of episodes on African-American history. That doesn’t mean this is the One True History Podcast–just the one I know best and could put together a cheat sheet for in a few hours. I hope it helps someone!

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It’s voting season right now in the United States–a fact you’ve probably been unable to escape if you live here. Next week we’ll have local, state, and federal midterm elections, and we’ll even have elections in the American Translators Association.

This blog isn’t about politics. I don’t actually want to talk about the people running in any of those elections right now, so don’t worry. But since some things are so universally important that they deserve a personal appeal, I want to get personal for a second here, and I want to do so publicly. Here’s the thing: every day now we hear the words “vote,” “voting,” “voters.” These are big words for me personally, because in 2006, I had the vote taken away from me.

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