There’s no secret that black history as we know it, is a watered-down version of the many contributions that members of the African Diaspora have contributed to creating and developing America. As Michelle Obama said at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, “She lives in a house (white house) that was built by slaves.” Before she said it, how many people actually knew that?
In traditional educational institutions, very few trailblazers from the African Diaspora are featured outside of Martin Luther King, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, and Malcolm X. This has created two issues in our society. An entire race who has been denied their history which we see the effects of every day and the idea that keeps racism at its highest levels, that only caucasian/European based races founded and created every aspect of our society.
The movie, “Hidden Figures” which was released in 2016, is the perfect example. Three women who defined modern advances through mathematical and technological at NASA who were never in the history books. In 2020 Katherine Johnson passed away and was honored as a staple in history when just 4 years ago, no one knew who she was or her amazing contributions to STEM. There are so many stories that show we have to redefine how “history” is documented for future generations.
We have taken a traditional way of providing education and literary work while using modern technology to make sure that these stories are not only well documented but will exist throughout time and continue to be relatable and available. The Melanoid Chronicles is the first-ever Encyclopedia and Docu-Series for black history in the new millennium. The first edition addresses the first 20 years of the new millennium. In the last 20 years, we had our first black president, the first lead actress (since the 1960s) to be a lead actress in a television series that broke records, the United States Air Force has its first Black Chief of staff (see our Facebook page for more examples of who will be featured) and so many more.
The Melanoid Chronicles is available as a Docuseries and also available as a hard copy and e-book series. The first series will span the past 20 years and from there, we will release a new one every year. In addition, each book will have a documentary that coincides with it, to be available online through video platforms. The documentary series will highlight several of the trailblazers in the book with live interviews as well as interviews with their companies and associations that put them in the history books. We can’t change our “lost” history. I believe that throughout time, we will still be discovering those “hidden figures” who were never acknowledged for their contributions to society. However, we can change the trajectory of how our stories are told from here on out in hopes that our future generations will NEVER experience what every generation before them had to endure by not being told or knowing their history and having the ideas that only slavery defines them in the U.S. In 100 years, our stories of today will help shape the ideas of our children and how they value themselves. The Melanoid Chronicles has arrived to be steadfast on that mission.