Origin of Everything

Here in the United States, when we think about the term "slavery" we think about the transatlantic slave trade and the institution of chattel slavery. But this wasn't the only type of enslavement that took place in the Americas and the Caribbean. Today Danielle looks at the complicated history surrounding the European enslavement of Indigenous peoples.

In 2014, Ta-Nehisi Coates’ article “The Case for Reparations” went viral. Tracing everything from the racial terror of slavery to the rampant housing discrimination of the 20th century, Coates made the case for financial reparations for the descendants of those enslaved in the US. However, this argument extends back further than 2014 and also has significance beyond the Black American community.

With ongoing protests across the United States and the globe against law enforcement violence and extrajudicial killings of people in Black, brown, and impoverished communities, the world is contemplating the place of police in our society. This isn't the first time this has happened. We look at policing, from its colonial night watch origins to the modern-day, as well as attempts to change.

Language is constantly changing and ethnonyms are no exception. From "Negro" to "Colored" and "African American" to "Black," the people and cultures of African origin living in the United States have had many names. Today Danielle looks at the etymology and reclamation surrounding Black history and identity.

You're probably aware that the United States healthcare system is letting down many Black Americans. Today, Danielle looks at the historic reasons for distrust of medical establishment in the Black community as well as why these huge health disparities still exist.

John Adams warned us. George Washington begged us not to. Despite numerous warnings, here we are on the cusp of the 2020 election with two major parties locked in a perpetual struggle for power. Today Danielle looks at the emergence of the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans shortly after the United States's foundation and how these early parties evolved into the Two-Party System we know today.

America's last major epidemic was the HIV/AIDS crisis of 1980s and 1990s. In order to better understand our current circumstances, Danielle is looking back at the legacies of action and inaction surrounding HIV/AIDS and how the government's response then informs our approach to COVID-19 now.

"Socialism" is one of THE most divisive words in America and it has been for a long time. With Democratic Socialism gaining more and more popularity, Danielle takes a look back at the long complicated history of Socialism in America. From the Utopian Socialist communities of the 19th century to the labor strikes and Anarchist Bombings of 1919 that helped fuel the Red Scare.

Laws are intended to maintain order and promote justice, but what happens when those laws promote and spread discrimination and bigotry? Today Danielle analyzes the homophobic history of US law, tracing its origins in colonialism all the way to present-day court cases like Obergefell v. Hodges. This is the second video in our examination of legal discrimination in the United States.

Will we ever shake hands again?! With the current state of the world, no one can really say. But that got us wondering... why do we shake hands in the first place? Today, Danielle traces the history of the handshake from Babylonia and the early Greeks to the present.

Laws are intended to maintain order and promote justice, but what happens when those laws promote and spread discrimination and bigotry? Today Danielle analyzes the discriminatory history of US law, tracing its origins in colonialism and chattel slavery up through the Jim Crow era and today's mass incarceration.

When you hear "Latino" you probably think of people from Latin America - places like Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, etc. But where exactly did the history of that word come from, and has it always meant Central America and South America as well as the Caribbean? Danielle traces the origin of the term "Latino" and the debates that still surround it as well as the term "Hispanic" and "Latinx."