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In the early 1940s, Charles Blockson was an inquisitive Pennsylvania fourth grader who asked his teacher if Black people had a history. His teacher said no: Black people were born to serve whites. But Blockson didn’t take that as an answer. He took it as a challenge.
From rummaging through Goodwill for vintage items to saving up for volumes at a local bookstore over the years, little Blockson never gave up.
By the time he passed in 2023, Blockson had collected hundreds of thousands of pamphlets, artwork, taped interviews, books, photographs, and so much more. His mission to archive Black history succeeded. Fortunately, much of his rare collection is available for public viewing.
His archive captures icons from the Underground Railroad, on which he became an expert. There’s evidence of Black folks simply living life in various decades. There are also pages from the likes of Paul Robeson and Phyllis Wheatley. Eventually, he started writing his own history books.
Blockson made it crystal clear: the narrative white supremacy presents about Black history isn’t fact. Their narrative targets our minds and beliefs, telling us we have nothing to be empowered by. When we’re empowered, we change the world.
Because of enthusiasts like Blockson, we know our history. And now, we’re the ones responsible for both creating new history and archiving it for future generations to come.