“Unfiltered: Lesser-Known Stories of the Black Freedom Struggle” examines absent or hidden histories of the civil rights and black power movements. Students learn that conventional movement histories are not a set of facts but rather an interpretation of past accounts usually written by elite members of society to further their own agendas. The prevalent and conventional narrative of the civil rights movement narrowly focuses on the non-violent approach taken by a
few black leaders protesting racial inequality in the South during the 1950s and 1960s. To make the story more inclusive, students use TimelineJS to create alternative histories. Most projects widen the scope to encompass years beyond the mid-twentieth century. The majority take us to places outside the southern United States. Student topics are varied and focus on important aspects of the struggle that have been left out. Topics include the important work of child participants and women organizers; the black theatre movement; landmark court cases and opinions; and the northern fair housing movement. Some timelines examine overlaps between the African American liberation movement and, both the Polynesian Panthers and the American Indian Movement. Another project challenges the traditional narrative of nonviolence in the face of hostile policies and actions employed by law enforcement. Collectively, these timeline projects force us to rethink conventional movement histories.

Students used Timeline JS, a free and open-access tool for building visually immersive and interactive timelines. Tutorials and technical support were led by Abolition Lab Assistant Kyra Kellogg and Dr. Jen Andrella.