Everybody, it's Jeff Bennett, and this is the PBS News Podcast, Settle In.

This month marks 100 years since the beginning of what would become Black History Month.

To commemorate the milestone and what celebrating Black History Month means in today's political climate,

I spoke with the award-winning journalist and writer known for his searing analysis and signature wit, Michael Harriet. He's written for

countless publications and can now be found at Contraband Camp. That's a journalist collective he

founded on Substack. And his most recent book, the best-selling Black AF history, the unwhitewashed

story of America, frames black history not as a counter-narrative, but the narrative of American

history. So, settle in and enjoy our conversation with Michael Harriet.

Michael Harriet, thanks for making time for us. We appreciate it.

Thank you for having me.

You opened this book with the story of what's called the middle room. This was a sanctuary

of sorts in your grandparents' house. How did that space shape not just what you learned about history,

but how you learned to question history? That room was, you know, in a house that my grandfather

built. And before I was born, he lined it with

shelves. And so it was not just kind of my mother and my family's library, but all of the members of

our houses, my aunts and uncles, when they were growing up, they deposited their books there, too.

And so I got to kind of see what they were growing up, they deposited their books there too. And so I got to

kind of see what they were reading, what generations before me were reading. And because I was

homeschooled and my education was largely self-directed, and we were always voracious readers,

it gave me a chance to time travel in sort of a way through the minds of my family, through people who came before me, and through people I didn't even know. My grandfather died before I was born.

So it gave me a chance to absorb that history. And it was also a gathering spot where we played games

and sat and listened to the rest of the family members tell stories. And so that room was kind of a

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