Monthly Digest: September 2022
On the last day of each month, I will send out a post that includes some brief reflections on the past month, a recap of all the posts published during the previous month, and my monthly travel tale. My crazy dream has become reality Liberating Narratives began as a blog
“Suffering the Most Excruciating Torments”: The Height of the Transatlantic Slave System, 1650-1850
A discussion of how to teach the transatlantic slave system in the late seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries.
“We Cannot Reckon How Great the Damage Is”: Origins of the Transatlantic Slave System, c.1450 - c.1650
Discussion of how to teach the origins of the transatlantic slave system with a focus on understanding the different regional and global consequences
From Dublin to Shandong: Slavery and Slaving in Afroeurasia before 1400 C.E.
A discussion of how to provide some historical context of Afroeurasian slavery to help students understand the Transatlantic slave system.
“If there were no buyers there would be no sellers”: Teaching the Transatlantic Slave System, c.1450 - c.1850
A discussion of how world history teachers can teach the transatlantic slave system in a way that centers Black African voices.
A New Narrative for Liberating Narratives
When I began Liberating Narratives, I envisioned a simple blog where I could discuss how the stories of world history have often been told from a more Eurocentric perspective and reflect on how we can integrate a broader and more inclusive lens for understanding the past. This focus reflected how
Stepping Out from Zheng He’s Shadow: World History, Ming China, and Greater East Asia in the Fifteenth Century
Most authors of world history textbooks and world history teachers seem to love the voyages of Zheng He. The treasure ships dwarfed all contemporary ships, the two main individuals (the Yongle Emperor and Admiral Zheng He) were larger than life characters, and there were African giraffes being mistaken for mythical
"People Who Have Interrupted Empire": African and Indigenous Resistance in the Sixteenth and Early Seventeenth Centuries
I’ve looked at more world history textbooks than I want to admit. One thing almost all of them have in common is some discussion of Portuguese maritime expansion along the western coast of Africa in the fifteenth century and the Spanish and Portuguese conquest of the Americas in the
Less Scrambling, More Reflecting: How We Can Better Teach about the European Colonization of Africa
Every year thousands of teachers of world history teach about the problematically-named “Scramble for Africa”, and many of them make use of a popular classroom simulation that seems to have originated in the 1990s, based on what some teachers have told me. I remember first seeing pictures of the activity
What We Can Learn from a Pair of Skating Owls: Teaching the Little Ice Age and its Importance for Today
For a number of years, Donald Trump has been tweeting about the myth of climate change based on cold weather. Just this past week, he even sarcastically called for more global warming. While most people reading this essay will quickly dismiss Trump’s claims, it’s important to consider how
