Preserving and Teaching Black History

Video Interview of Timothy Jenkins by Rock Newman

“The river that forgets its origin dries up,” said Teaching for Change board member Timothy Lionel Jenkins in his interview on the Rock Newman show on October 7, 2015. This Yoruba proverb conveys the drive behind Jenkins’ commitment to education and historical memory.

During this powerful interview, Jenkins talks about the history of Howard University, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), pan-Africanism, liberatory education, the Association for the Study of African American Life and Culture (ASALH), Black history as American history, Stokely Carmichael, lessons from the barbershop, revolutionary nonviolence, and much more.

Jenkins explains that in order to ensure that the next generation has access to the narratives of Black history that can inform and inspire them today, he devotes his time to a number of key institutions including the National Museum of African American History and Culture (Smithsonian) and Teaching for Change.