A Second Sight

Since the nation’s founding, Black Americans have had a unique perspective on the U.S. experience—a “second sight”—that reveals the truth about the nation to itself. In A Second Sight: How the Wonder and Vision of Black Mediamakers Push America Toward Freedom, Sarah J. Jackson traces how Black journalists, photographers, filmmakers, radio hosts, podcasters, and other mediamakers have drawn on this tradition to advance democracy and broaden American values.

For two centuries, this “second sight” has shaped memories of the nation and pushed it toward a future more closely aligned with its espoused values. Drawing from W.E.B. Du Bois’s philosophical work, along with deep historical analysis and interviews with today’s most active Black mediamakers, A Second Sight shows these visionaries positioned at the margins of their industries and navigating fraught relationships to power.

Join the New America Fellows Program for a conversation about A Second Sight.

Copies of A Second Sight are available for purchase here through Solid State Books.

Editorial disclosure: The views expressed in this book and event are solely those of the author and speakers. They do not reflect the views of New America, its staff, fellows, funders, or board of directors.