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MacArthur Historians, 2021

A selection of writing by and about the three American historians selected as MacArthur Fellows this year: Ibram X. Kendi, Monica Muñoz Martinez, and Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor.
Updated by Bunk on May 13, 2025. First created October 1, 2021.
Ibram X. Kendi

One of the Nation’s Leading Scholars of Racism, Says Education and Love Are Not the Answer

A profile of Ibram X. Kendi, the founder of American University's new anti-racism center.
by Lonnae O'Neal via Andscape on September 20, 2017 
Ibram X. Kendi, Center for Antiracist Research, Boston University.

The American Nightmare

To be black and conscious of anti-black racism is to stare into the mirror of your own extinction.
by Ibram X. Kendi via The Atlantic
This publication restricts nonsubscriber access to some or all of its articles.
on June 1, 2020 
Kendi examines the legacy of scientific racism at the turn of the 20th century in public health and criminology today.

The Hopefulness and Hopelessness of 1619

Marking the 400-year African American struggle to survive and to be free of racism.
by Ibram X. Kendi via The Atlantic
This publication restricts nonsubscriber access to some or all of its articles.
on August 20, 2019 
Kendi reflects on the pitfalls of cynicism in the antiracist struggle today. "In order to bring about change, we have to believe change is possible."
Texas Rangers on horseback.

The Secret History of Anti-Mexican Violence in Texas

In her groundbreaking new book, Monica Muñoz Martinez uncovers the legacy of a brutal past.
by Carlos Kevin Blanton via Texas Monthly
This publication restricts nonsubscriber access to some or all of its articles.
on September 21, 2018 
Monica Muñoz Martinez, Department of History, University of Texas, Austin.
Demonstrators in favor of removing a Robert E. Lee statue hold signs with the names of people they would rather see memorialized.

The Battle to Rewrite Texas History

Supporters of traditional narratives are fighting to keep their grip on the public imagination.
by Christopher Hooks via Texas Monthly
This publication restricts nonsubscriber access to some or all of its articles.
on September 18, 2019 
"People have a right to learn truthful accounts of history in schools, museums, the news, and popular culture, even when those histories are troubling. This is especially important when lessons of the past can help inspire a more inclusive and equitable future."

https://www.macfound.org/fellows/class-of-2021/monica-munoz-martinez
A border sign

Borders Don’t Stop Violence—They Create It

The “border” is not a line on the ground, but a tool that enables violence and surveillance.
by Karl Jacoby, Monica Muñoz Martinez via Public Books on July 7, 2021 
Martinez discusses the culture of impunity for law enforcement agents along the U.S.-Mexico border, and the centrality of immigration reform to broader calls for racial justice.
Detail of a redlined neighborhood a map.

Racism After Redlining

In "Race for Profit," Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor walks us through the ways racist housing policy survived the abolition of redlining.
by N. D. B. Connolly via Black Perspectives on April 21, 2020 
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Department of African American Studies, Princeton University.
President Richard Nixon, HUD Secretary George Romney, and Washington Mayor Walter stand near a pile of rubble

How Federal Housing Programs Failed Black America

Even housing policies that sought to create more Black homeowners were stymied by racism and a determination to shrink the government’s presence.
by Marcia Chatelain via The Nation
This publication restricts nonsubscriber access to some or all of its articles.
on August 25, 2020 
"In the United States it's very stark that the past is not yet past. Problems that we think of as historical continue to impact our lives on a daily basis."

https://www.macfound.org/fellows/class-of-2021/keeanga-yamahtta-taylor

We Should Still Defund the Police

Cuts to public services that might mitigate poverty and promote social mobility have become a perpetual excuse for more policing.
by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor via The New Yorker
This publication restricts nonsubscriber access to some or all of its articles.
on August 14, 2020 
Taylor reflects on the renewed sense of urgency for overhauling the politics of punishment in the wake of last year's George Floyd protests.
An illustration of Barbara Smith.

Until Black Women Are Free, None of Us Will Be Free

Barbara Smith and the Black feminist visionaries of the Combahee River Collective.
by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor via The New Yorker
This publication restricts nonsubscriber access to some or all of its articles.
on July 20, 2020 
Taylor explains the original meanings of "intersectionality" and "identity politics."
Demonstrators at a Black Lives Matter rally.

Five Years Later, Do Black Lives Matter?

Five years since its inception, a look at what the Black Lives Matter movement accomplished and the important work it left unfinished.
by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor via Jacobin
This publication restricts nonsubscriber access to some or all of its articles.
on October 9, 2019 
Taylor takes stock of the achievements of BLM, and reflects on the ongoing tensions between reform and revolution in the movement.
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