The Contributions Of African Americans And Black People Told Through Flash Cards

Freddie Taylor is the Founder and President of Urban Intellectuals, an organization that created Black History Flashcards
Freddie Taylor is the Founder and President of Urban Intellectuals, an organization that created Black History Flashcards

The Contributions Of African Americans And Black People Told Through Flash Cards 

By Tia Carol Jones

Freddie Taylor founded Urban Intellectuals in 2015. Taylor’s father has a strong passion for history and culture, which he instilled in Taylor. Taylor reading books and learning about Black history led him to create Black History Flash Cards, the creation of Sankofa Club and the Sankofa Circle.

While Taylor was at Southern Illinois University, he noticed a lack of Black history in the curriculum. The stories that were about Black people were coming from other places, not Africa or the African American community. He started passing out Black history profiles to people in campus for $.25, which he said was the precursor to Black History Flashcards, because he wanted other people to also learn about Black people he admired.

When Taylor got married and started a family of his own, he was surprised that the education system hadn’t evolved when it came to Black History. He said that someone should do something to change it. He was that person.

Taylor launched Black History Flashcards in May 2017 because he wanted to get the information out to people. He said the goal is to expand the conversation of Black and African American contributions to humanity.

“I feel like Black history is the missing pages of world history and it’s a history that everybody needs to know and deserves to be made aware of. When we know and understand that “a people” have value and have given great things to the world, then we value them,” he said. He added that if people were made aware of how valuable Black and African American people are to humanity, it would lead to better relationships between cultures.

The Black History Flashcards feature President Barack Obama, Elijah McCoy, Carter G. Woodson, as well as Physicist Francis Cress Welsing, Explorer Matthew Henson, The Haitian Revolution, The Moors, Paul Robeson and Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba. The first deck of cards features Black men, the second deck features Black women, the third deck feature Black people’s contributions to Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM), the fourth volume features Black people before 1492, and volume five features Afro Latin and Afro Caribbean history.

Taylor said Black History is the greatest motivational story never told. It has the power to inspire and motivate children, young people and adults. He believes that if people, no matter their age, dedicated five minutes a day to learning about Black history, it can have an amazing impact. Taylor said, “five minutes a day keeps the miseducation away.”

“I think Black history has the power to change the trajectory of lives and I think it has the power to change the world,” Taylor said.

Black History Flashcards are available on the Urban Intellectuals website, www.urbanintellectuals.com. They also can be purchased in the retail section of museums, as well as on Amazon.


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