This blog post is by Kristin Penner, Director of Research and Partnerships with the African American Policy Forum, a Unite Against Book Bans partner.
The African American Policy Forum, in collaboration with the Freedom to Learn Network (F2L), will lead a national week of action from Sunday, April 27 through Sunday, May 4, 2025. #HandsOffOurHistory events and actions will focus on rallying the public to protect Black history and the freedom to learn.
The far-right extremists who have pushed book bans for years and suppressed access to knowledge that would empower a more engaged, educated citizenry are now in power. They are using that power to close public museums in Washington, defund libraries and museums across the country, and zero out the Department of Education. A new Executive Order has targeted the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, seeking to erase Black history and corrode the guardrails that protect all of us. We will not let them.
We urge all who believe in the freedom to read and the freedom to learn to stand with us. Below are signature events to attend and individual actions to take in solidarity.
#HandOffOurHistory Events and Activations
Wednesday, April 30 | Beyond the First 100 Days: Centering Racial Justice and Black History in Our Fight for Democracy
AAPF will be hosting a virtual Under the Blacklight webinar in partnership with the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Barbara Arnwine, Shavon Arline-Bradley, Melanie Campbell, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Kaye Wise Whitehead, and Marc Morial will each highlight the threat of these attacks on Black history, why it is vital to commemorate this history in physical spaces and how this is connected to the broader assault on racial justice and democracy. The conversation will also feature excerpts and poems performed by our artivists throughout the program. Register here to attend this free, virtual event at 7pm ET.
Saturday, May 3 in DC | Freedom to Learn #HandsOffOurHistory DC Activation
Now is the time to stand up for civil rights, for the accurate accounting of history, for our books, for our voices and for our lives. From the National Museum of African American History and Culture to your local library, “Hands Off Our History” is vital to the broader movement to protect our lives and save our government. Register here for in-person activation near the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture at the John A. Wilson Building Steps, 1350 Pennsylvania Ave NW in Washington, DC at 11 am on Saturday May 3.
Saturday, May 3 in Your Community | Support #HandsOffOurHistory Locally
Even if you live far from Washington, DC, you can still show up for Black History and the Freedom to Learn on Saturday, May 3! Download Freedom to Learn #HandsOffOurHistory posters or create your own to bring along with your child(ren) or a friend to visit your city’s Black History museum or your local library’s Black History section. Take a selfie on location and post it with #HandsOffOurHistory.
More Ways To Take Action
1.) Sign the Black History is American History Affirmation.
2.) Take the Uncovering Black History Challenge.
- Identify locations in your community where Black history has been erased, minimized, or largely forgotten. From Black neighborhoods bulldozed to make way for highway construction in the name of urban renewal to locations where enslavement, segregation, or racial violence played out upon the bodies of Black people, there is no shortage of such spaces throughout the nation.
- Create a 30-second short video about how that location demonstrates why Black History is American History and post on social media. Use the hashtag #HandsOffOurHistory when you post on your social media platform. Top 10 submissions to info@freedomtolearn.net will receive an AAPF “I Take My History Black” tote bag.
3.) Urge young people to sign up for a free, digital Books Unbanned Library Card through our F2L partner Brooklyn Public Library to access Black Studies, Black History, and Black Literature books in defiance of the censorship of Black knowledge. Sign up information is here.
4.) Write a Letter to the Editor of your local newspaper using this digital tool developed with F2L partner EveryLibrary to demand #HandsOffOurHistory and defend Black History and Culture.
Stay Involved
To keep up to date on our work to protect Black history and the freedom to learn, follow the African American Policy Forum on Instagram, Bluesky, or Facebook, or visit the Freedom to Learn website.
