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Blink 3 von 12 - Eine kurze Geschichte der Menschheit
von Yuval Noah Harari
A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America
It’s dusk, and New Orleans’ French Quarter is vibrating. Notes from a brass band mingle with sounds of passersby. Above the Mississippi River, the sky is huge. The river itself is still and amber-colored, full of sediment that’s been transported across thousands of miles.
A little over 200 years ago, when the transatlantic slave trade was outlawed, more than 100,000 people were transported south along the same route. Leon A. Waters, a local historian and revolutionary, gestures at a plaque outlining this history.
Signs like this have begun to appear throughout New Orleans, which was once the largest slave market in America. Each details a certain place’s link to enslavement, acknowledging a history that was previously ignored – that paved the way for continued oppression.
For years, Black people in the US have died because of this legacy of oppression. Only now – after a white supremacist shot nine people in a Black church as they prayed, after neo-Nazis marched to protect a Confederate statue, after George Floyd was asphyxiated by a police officer’s knee on his neck – does it seem that the country is starting to reckon with its past.
Leon has worked to highlight New Orleans’ reckoning, leading tours that showcase the city’s hidden history and mentoring members of Take ’Em Down NOLA: a group of young Black activists whose self-proclaimed mission is to remove “ALL symbols of white supremacy in New Orleans as a part of a broader push for racial & economic justice.”
This evening, Leon’s giving a tour to the author, Clint Smith. Despite being born and raised in New Orleans, Clint didn’t know much about the role his city had played in perpetuating slavery. It was only in 2017, when the statue of Confederate general and enslaver Robert E. Lee was toppled from its 60-foot pedestal, that he became curious about how people grappled with the centuries of bondage.
Although some commemorations like the Robert E. Lee statue have disappeared in New Orleans, hundreds of others remain – hiding in the names of streets, parks, and schools that pay tribute to Confederate leaders, enslavers, and proponents of slavery.
Leon and Clint drive past the Omni Royal Orleans Hotel, formerly the St. Louis Hotel, where men, women, and children were bought, sold, and divided. They pass tourist-filled Jackson Square, where enslaved people were executed for rebelling. The tour ends on Marigny Street, where Clint’s parents now live. A testament to Bernard de Marigny, who owned over 150 enslaved people, the name echoes a sentiment made by historian Walter Johnson: “The whole city is a memorial to slavery.”
But New Orleans is just a microcosm of the country’s legacy of white supremacy. To understand the bigger picture, Clint will need to visit more places – those attempting to tell the truth, those denying it, and those fumbling somewhere in between.
How the Word Is Passed (2021) is a travelogue that underscores how slavery has shaped America’s collective history and its reality today. Nine locations serve as gateways to important stories that are hidden in plain sight. They exemplify how communities have reckoned, or not, with their roles in the history of slavery and invite us all to dig deeper into what we believe – and why.
Ich bin begeistert. Ich liebe Bücher aber durch zwei kleine Kinder komme ich einfach nicht zum Lesen. Und ja, viele Bücher haben viel bla bla und die Quintessenz ist eigentlich ein Bruchteil.
Genau dafür ist Blinkist total genial! Es wird auf das Wesentliche reduziert, die Blinks sind gut verständlich, gut zusammengefasst und auch hörbar! Das ist super. 80 Euro für ein ganzes Jahr klingt viel, aber dafür unbegrenzt Zugriff auf 3000 Bücher. Und dieses Wissen und die Zeitersparnis ist unbezahlbar.
Extrem empfehlenswert. Statt sinnlos im Facebook zu scrollen höre ich jetzt täglich zwischen 3-4 "Bücher". Bei manchen wird schnelle klar, dass der Kauf unnötig ist, da schon das wichtigste zusammen gefasst wurde..bei anderen macht es Lust doch das Buch selbständig zu lesen. Wirklich toll
Einer der besten, bequemsten und sinnvollsten Apps die auf ein Handy gehören. Jeden morgen 15-20 Minuten für die eigene Weiterbildung/Entwicklung oder Wissen.
Viele tolle Bücher, auf deren Kernaussagen reduziert- präzise und ansprechend zusammengefasst. Endlich habe ich das Gefühl, Zeit für Bücher zu finden, für die ich sonst keine Zeit habe.
Hol dir mit Blinkist die besten Erkenntnisse aus mehr als 5.500 Sachbüchern und Podcasts. In 15 Minuten lesen oder anhören!
Jetzt kostenlos testenBlink 3 von 12 - Eine kurze Geschichte der Menschheit
von Yuval Noah Harari