How educators and content creators are teaching Black history on social media
Educators and experts have long brought their teachings online, but now, some are turning to social media to keep Black history alive amid attacks on diversity and as multiple states have purged African American studies courses from school curricula.
Arkansas, Florida and South Carolina have already opted to restrict the teaching of AP African American Studies classes in high schools in recent years.
To counter this, some professors and educators have been sharing their African American studies curricula on TikTok alongside content creators working to broaden public understanding of the subject.
The now-viral "HillmanTok University" movement is one such example.
HillmanTok, whose name was inspired by the popular sitcom "A Different World," which featured the fictional HBCU Hillman University, has drawn hundreds of users to learn about a wide range of topics, from liberal arts to science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Dr. Leah Barlow, an assistant professor at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, unintentionally sparked the HillmanTok movement with a January video post introducing students to her Intro to African American Studies spring 2025 course. The post has picked up over 4 million views since Jan. 20, with tens of thousands of TikTok users commenting and sharing their curiosity about the class syllabus.
In a follow-up post on Jan. 25, Barlow shared a "TikTok syllabus," her recommended reading list for those interested in her teachings.
"My list for Black Studies changes every year and is limited to time. Although this is not comprehensive, it’s my starting point. Hope you enjoy!" she wrote in the caption at the time.
Barlow has gone on to share a number of "mini lectures" on the topic, prompting discussions on everything from Kendrick Lamar to Beyoncé to Grammy-winning musician Rhiannon Giddens, whom Barlow called "dynamic as a performer, as an artist, as an intellectual."
Barlow, referring to the importance of teaching Black history and culture, told ABC News, "So much of African American history is tied into American history, and so to not include African American history really is to exclude a large portion of this United States."
Speaking specifically to why she thinks the HillmanTok trend has taken off on social media, she said it presents people with "agency, autonomy and ownership."
"I think in many ways, sometimes, we think that in order to do something, we need permission -- and I think that this is not it," she said. "We don't, right? We can teach. We can educate. We can activate in ways that move beyond policy."
Other content creators have done their part to keep Black history alive. Among them is author Taylor Cassidy, who created the social media series "Fast Black History," where she dishes out little-known and inspirational lessons to her more than 2 million followers.
Cassidy, author of the book "Black History Is Your History," regularly shares videos on topics ranging from Billie Holiday's song "Strange Fruit" to Ledger Smith (aka "Roller Man," the man who roller-skated nearly 700 miles to join the 1963 March on Washington) to Ann Lowe (the designer who created Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis' famed wedding dress) to little known facts about human rights activist Malcolm X and much more. She divides her TikTok videos into playlists with names like "BH Basics" and "BH Music" to help viewers and followers sort through subjects easily.
"I already had a following on TikTok, and I asked myself, 'What is a way that I can teach people Black history the way that I learned it, the way that I fell in love with it, which is full of joy and resilience and perseverance?'" Cassidy told ABC News of her motivation to start the series.
In a recent video, Cassidy addressed a TikTok user's question about why the failed "40 acres and a mule" promise made to Black Americans during the Civil War -- a form of reparations to freed slaves which was overturned by President Andrew Johnson in the fall of 1865 -- was no longer being taught in school.
Confronting the question, and speaking to the need for Black history lessons more broadly, she responded, "Here's the thing: They were never teaching this in schools. Maybe some schools, but I learned about '40 acres and a mule' from my parents, and most of the Black history that I share comes from my own research."
She continued, "Black History Month and advocating for Black history to be taught -- and all diverse histories to be taught -- in school is not just so that Black people feel good about themselves and see representation and know that they can achieve great things. That is a big plus, but it's not the only reason. Take '40 acres and a mule.' If everyone in America [had] this understanding of this history, do you know the amount of stereotypes that would not exist about Black people and the economy? Because that understanding and that context of the systems that were created against us would be mainstream knowledge."
In the caption of the post, she added, "Education gives context, which dissolves stereotypes and fear, which opens up doors for progress."
