One Mic History

The Freedom Library Book Club

Most textbooks treat Black folks as victims, sidekicks, or footnotes. They frame our freedom as a "gift" from America’s benevolence, rather than the result of our own ongoing strategic fight.

The history books lied, but Michael Harriot rewrites that narrative

Today, the Freedom Library Book Club is going live to discuss the book that flips the script on the standard American History:

Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America

JOIN THE LIVE STREAM: Date: TODAY, Saturday, Feb 7th Time: 3pm EST

14 hours ago | [YT] | 144

One Mic History

George Pullman paid these men nothing. He said: "The passengers will pay you." Watch the full story: https://youtu.be/aZBr2VNsD6g

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6 days ago (edited) | [YT] | 1,239

One Mic History

In 1915, 6 states banned tipping, they called it 'commercial bribery.'
Tomorrow at 11 AM EST, we discuss why it came roaring back

6 days ago | [YT] | 974

One Mic History

The "Gangs" With Badges. https://youtu.be/Hhqs28t4j8A

The Banditos. The Executioners. The Vikings. The Jump Out Boys.

These aren't street gangs. These are alleged cliques inside the LA Sheriff’s Department. They have their own tattoos, their own hand signs, and their own rules.

In this video, we expose how these groups have terrorized the Black and Brown communities of Los Angeles County for decades.

Watch the full investigation here: https://youtu.be/Hhqs28t4j8A

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1 week ago | [YT] | 181

One Mic History

The Man that saved Harlem. https://youtu.be/t8NgHSXJvfs

In 1904, the Hudson Realty Company tried to evict Black tenants to build a "White Wall" around the neighborhood.

They had millions in capital. Philip Payton had a strategy.

He secretly bought the buildings next to theirs, moved Black families in, and crashed their property values until they begged him to buy them out.

He didn't just protest the eviction. He bankrupted the landlords.

Watch the full breakdown of his strategy here: [https://youtu.be/t8NgHSXJvfs]

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1 week ago | [YT] | 1,144

One Mic History

Don Cornelius had the pilot for Soul Train, but every major ad agency turned him down. They claimed "Black people don’t have any money." https://youtu.be/OQ7FjvXbzfo

Worse, the pilot was filmed in black-and-white because of a low budget. TV networks wouldn't touch it.

He didn't beg. He called George Johnson (founder of Afro Sheen).

As the first Black-owned company on the Stock Exchange, Johnson Products understood the vision. They didn't just buy an ad spot; they paid to colorize the cameras.

They financed the tech upgrade that allowed Black elegance to be broadcast in high-definition.

Because Black capital paid the bills, Don Cornelius never had to water down the culture to make sponsors comfortable.

The "Soul Train Line" wasn't just a dance party; it was a commercial for Black beauty, funded entirely by Black hairspray.

The revolution was televised. https://youtu.be/OQ7FjvXbzfo

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2 weeks ago | [YT] | 3,769

One Mic History

The scariest word in the FBI archives isn't "arrest," It is "Neutralize." https://youtu.be/XQ8i9d1C3UA

When the FBI realized they couldn't find a crime to charge Martin Luther King Jr. with, they decided to change tactics.

They stopped trying to put him in jail. They started trying to put him in a grave.

This document shows the moment the government decided to destroy a man from the inside out.

It wasn't a rogue agent. It was official policy.

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2 weeks ago | [YT] | 1,488

One Mic History

Claudette Colvin passed away today.

Everyone will call her a hero now. But in 1955, she wasn't celebrated. She was shunned. https://youtu.be/OyInkMcEGM0

When she returned to high school after her arrest, classmates didn't applaud. They mocked her. They called her "crazy." Parents told their kids to stay away from "trouble."

The movement hid her because she was 15, poor, and eventually pregnant. She wasn't the "perfect victim."

But she was the winner.

Colvin was the star witness in Browder v. Gayle—the lawsuit that actually desegregated the buses.

She walked alone so we could walk with millions. Rest in Power.

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 5,809

One Mic History

To the white tycoons in his chair, John Merrick was just "The Help." That was their fatal mistake. https://youtu.be/0QAJNgKAHrY

Because they saw him as "just labor," they lowered their guard. While Merrick held a straight razor to their throats, they talked business. They discussed interest rates, risk tables, and exactly how they denied loans to Black families.

They assumed he couldn't understand the math. That was their fatal flaw.

The barber wasn't just cutting hair. He was auditing them. He realized his "invisibility" was a superpower. He memorized their financial blueprint, step-by-step.

Then, he put down the razor and used their own blueprint to found North Carolina Mutual building a financial fortress for the "uninsurable" Black community, one dime at a time.

He built the largest Black business in the world not because he was given a loan, but because he was underestimated. https://youtu.be/0QAJNgKAHrY

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3 weeks ago (edited) | [YT] | 1,271

One Mic History

We know the towns that burned. What about the one they couldn't? https://youtu.be/W3FP8EDIYRI

We are taught the names of the Black towns that were destroyed: Tulsa, Rosewood, Wilmington. We share the pictures of the smoke and ruins because it fits the story we’ve been taught—that we couldn't build anything without them tearing it down.

But that is not the whole story. There was a "Black Fortress" in the heart of the Mississippi Delta that they couldn't burn.

Watch the full story here: https://youtu.be/W3FP8EDIYRI

1 month ago | [YT] | 1,009