They Can’t Kill Us and We Won’t Die

Explore Our Galleries

A man stands in front of the Djingareyber mosque on February 4, 2016 in Timbuktu, central Mali.
Mali's fabled city of Timbuktu on February 4 celebrated the recovery of its historic mausoleums, destroyed during an Islamist takeover of northern Mali in 2012 and rebuilt thanks to UN cultural agency UNESCO.
TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY SEBASTIEN RIEUSSEC / AFP / SÉBASTIEN RIEUSSEC

African Peoples Before Captivity

Shackles from Slave Ship Henrietta Marie

Kidnapped: The Middle Passage

Image of the first black members of Congress

Reconstruction: A Brief Glimpse of Freedom

The Lynching of Laura Nelson_May_1911 200x200

One Hundred Years of Jim Crow

I Am Somebody! The Struggle for Justice

NOW: Free At Last?

Memorial to the Victims of Lynching

The Freedom-Lovers’ Roll Call Wall

Frozen custard in Milwaukee's Bronzeville

Special Exhibits

Breaking News!

Today's news and culture by Black and other reporters in the Black and mainstream media.

Click Here

Ways to Support ABHM?

Click Here

November 7, 2020

Illustration for article titled They Cant Kill Us and We Wont Die

By Michael Harriot, TheRoot.com

Twenty-nine presidents ago, America kicked the state of Georgia out of the United States for killing Black elected officials and the Black voters who put them in office. Ten presidents ago, this country was still killing Black voters. This morning, an entire country sat in suspended animation waiting to see if there were enough Black votes to save America from America.

Joseph Robinette Biden will be the 46th President of the United States.

Joseph Robinette Biden will be the 46th President of the United States because the best President of our lives was a Black man (Who was better? Nixon? Ford? Reagan? The Bushes? Clinton? Trump? Stop playing.) Joseph Robinette Biden will be the 46th President of the United States, in part, because he chose a Black running mate. Joseph Robinette Biden will be the 46th President of the United States because of Black people.

“Magic” did not make Joe Biden the president-elect, nor did some existential combination of thoughts and prayers.

We did this.

Us.

If it is true that faith without works is dead, then Black people have provided the back-bruising labor while the rest of this country folds its hands, closes its eyes and wishes upon a star. At every turning moment of this country’s short history, we have been the answer to this nation’s prayers…

Read the full article here

Learn more about 2020 presidential election here and here

More Breaking News here

Comments Are Welcome

Note: We moderate submissions in order to create a space for meaningful dialogue, a space where museum visitors – adults and youth –– can exchange informed, thoughtful, and relevant comments that add value to our exhibits.

Racial slurs, personal attacks, obscenity, profanity, and SHOUTING do not meet the above standard. Such comments are posted in the exhibit Hateful Speech. Commercial promotions, impersonations, and incoherent comments likewise fail to meet our goals, so will not be posted. Submissions longer than 120 words will be shortened.

See our full Comments Policy here.