The New York Times - USA (2020-11-15)

4 BUN THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2020

BLAIR IMANI THINKSand speaks at a mile
a minute. That speed comes in handy
when the historian and social activist is
creating her “Smarter in Seconds” Insta-
gram videos — a series of bite-size tutori-
als that address such subjects as consent,
cultural appropriation and gender expres-
sion for her followers, known as Smarties.
A hallmark of Ms. Imani’s brand is
combining progressive lessons with vi-
brant visuals and a perky, quirky delivery.
“I grew up in the ’90s, so edutainment was
my bread and butter,” Ms. Imani, 27, said.
History, she added, “doesn’t have to be
boring. It’s actually very exciting, if you
approach it the right way.”
Ms. Imani is the author of “Making Our
Way Home: The Great Migration and the
Black American Dream,” as well as “Mod-
ern Herstory: Stories of Women and Non-
binary People Rewriting History,” an
illustrated collection of short profiles on
icons of the civil rights movement as well
as lesser-known pathbreakers of today.
We connected in late October, as she
prepared for a virtual event with Ibram X.
Kendi, the author of “How to Be an An-
tiracist.” The discussion covered topics
like voting obstacles that Black and brown
citizens experience, white domestic terror-
ism veiled as patriotism and the impor-
tance of transcending personal feelings of
discomfort to learn about and reflect on
structural racism.LEIGH-ANN JACKSON

MONDAY

5:45 A.M. Wake up for wudu (shower and
ritual cleansing) for the Fajr prayer and
pray toward Mecca. I wake up on time for
this almost every morning and do my best
to stay off social media because that’s my
“talking to Allah” time. Then I head back
to bed.

8 A.M. Wake up again to feed myself and
my dogs, Rita and Django, then let them
out to bark at the world.

9 A.M. Triple-check the audio and caption
sync on three new “Smarter in Seconds”
videos before posting them on Instagram,
to celebrate Intersex Awareness Day.

NOONAfter lunch, I log on to a Google
Meet session with Ren Fernández-Kim
and Lady Izdihar. We call ourselves the
Honest Scholars on Instagram. We review
the analytics and takeaways from the
content we posted Sunday night, which
explored the ways that different cultures
view death. Reading over the comments,
there were a lot of wholesome, smarty
moments and also some smart-aleck mo-
ments. Then we discuss ideas for our next
post, which will be about revolution and
the concept of “power to the people.”

1 P.M. Video chat with my fiancé, Akeem,
who’s studying in London until December.

2 P.M. Meet up with Ren, my younger
sister and another friend. We all got
Covid-tested so we could safely do a group
photo shoot for Halloween, which is also
my 27th birthday. I’m dressing up as Ma-
leficent this year, and they’re the Fairies.

6 P.M. Dinner with family. I live in Pasade-
na, in the house behind my parents, and
my mother cooks every night. I help with
the dishes after.

7 P.M. Catch up on the day’s prayers. Ideal-
ly, Muslims are supposed to pray on time
throughout the day, and you would think
that I would have this nailed down, espe-
cially since I am working from home. But
I’m not perfect and I don’t enjoy pretend-
ing to be.

9 P.M. Wind down, do my skin care routine
and follow up on direct messages from
Instagram. I am an unusual person in that
I read every single direct message that I
receive and respond to as many as possi-
ble. Human interactions are few and far
between because of the pandemic, so I try
to cherish conversation.

10 P.M. I tried to go to bed early, but after
receiving quite a few messages of distress
and confusion from my Smarties about the
confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett, I got
out of bed, threw on a hijab, turned my
ring light on and did my best to give an
encouraging speech.

TUESDAY

10 A.M. New Instagram post: a photo of
me in a Rosie the Riveter look and a mes-
sage about voting. It was initially going to
be a very cut-and-dried history lesson
about Black women’s role in the nation’s
labor force, but I wanted to sprinkle in a
bit of encouragement.

11 A.M. I prepare for today’s conversation
with Ibram X. Kendi by completing some
of the activities in his new journal, “Be
Antiracist.” I also watch some of his inter-
views in succession to make sure I don’t
do my pet peeve, which is asking the same

five questions interviewers always ask.

2 P.M. Must get glam for the talk. I usually

like a monochrome look, so my eye shad-

ow will match my hijab. I’m working with

a downsize wardrobe right now, though,

since I’m renovating my closet. About 15

minutes before the talk, I post a

#vibecheck selfie on Instagram. I make

sure my phone and Wi-Fi hot spot are

charged, Dr. Kendi’s books are close by,

and my family knows to keep interrup-

tions to a minimum. (My mom is known to

crash a live event.)

3 P.M.The video conversation with Dr.

Kendi. It’s hosted by Loyalty Bookstore, a

shop in Washington.

5 P.M. I have a last-minute turnaround for

a brand partnership post, so I asked the

photographer Kaelan Barowsky if he could

swing by to capture the photos. This par-

ticular shoot involved me climbing into a

tree in lavender suede platform shoes. I

had already taken off my makeup, but I

think the natural face made for a fairly

down-to-earth look. The post was for a

reforestation funding campaign, so it all

balanced out nicely.

6 P.M. For tonight’s family dinner, we had

halal lasagna. I get excited when my mom

prepares meals that are halal because it

shows that she cares about my religion

even though it’s different from her own

beliefs.

9 P.M. Catch up on YouTube. I enjoy watch-

ing listicle videos and I usually listen to

videos by Simon Whistler and Mike Oh

while I get ready for bed.

WEDNESDAY

1 P.M. After my usual morning routine and

lunch, I attend a board meeting for the

Tegan and Sara Foundation, a L.G.B.T.Q.+

advocacy group. We focus on our 2021

efforts and do a recap of the impact of the

rapid-response grants we provided to

organizations coping with the impacts of

Covid. I also update the board on a protest

art presentation I gave to one of our grant

beneficiaries, Camp Brave Trails.

5 P.M. I go over business updates with

Ren, then get to work building out a web-

site for the Tyrone “Baldy” Davis Founda-

tion. In my spare time, I volunteer my

graphic design and brand marketing skills

to help community organizations.

6 P.M. I had to skip our sit-down family

dinner because of all the work I needed to

do before going to bed. It was actually a

surprisingly busy Wednesday. I didn’t

even get a chance to post on my IG stories

like I regularly would.

9 P.M. I noticed that a video from a femi-

nist debate with Vice that I participated in

last year was going viral again. It does

that every few months because of a debate

participant saying she voted for Donald

Trump as a joke after campaigning for

Bernie Sanders. My Smarties have such

interest in the clip that I decide to get in

touch with some of the debate participants

to do a reunion video over Zoom.

More work. By the time I realize the

hour, it’s about 4 a.m., so I just decide to

power through for an all-nighter of updat-

ing accounts for the Honest Scholars.

THURSDAY

5:45 A.M. I pray indoors because it’s pretty

chilly this morning.

8 A.M. Feed and let the dogs out, but not

for too long because of the ash and smoke

in the air from wildfires in the L.A. area.

Then I sleep for the next few hours, wake

back up at 11 a.m., and eat lunch.

2 P.M. At a meeting of the Honest Scholars,

we decide our logo should be a crest that

represents the three of us and our work as

historians and anthropologists.

4 P.M. I post a question box on Instagram

so my Smarties can add their input to the

conversation I’m about to have with the

speakers from the viral feminism debate.

6 P.M. The Zoom meeting starts and we

discuss the infamous “I voted as a joke”

line from the 2019 video. We also cover the

Barrett confirmation, the importance of

voting and the erasure of trans women

from conversations about feminism.

7 P.M. Dinner with the family.

8 P.M. Catch up on the day’s prayers.

9 P.M. I finish up some more work, then

end up passing out way earlier than usual.

FRIDAY

11 A.M. I receive a bona fide offer from Ten

Speed Press for my next book, which will

be based on my “Smarter in Seconds”

series and available in fall 2021.

NOON Lunch while tuning in to the virtual

dissertation defense by Shay-Akil Mc-

Lean, a queer trans evolutionary genet-

icist. The session, titled “Du Bois Meets

Darwin,” brilliantly breaks down the im-

portance of considering race and racism in

discussions of science, genetics and biol-

ogy.

4 P.M. I usually talk to Akeem at this time,

but I wasn’t able to get in touch with him.

I decide I’ll try again around 11 p.m.,

which is when he wakes up in London.

5 P.M. Early dinner with the family so we

can pick up my aunt from LAX on time.

7 P.M. Surprise! Unbeknown to me, Akeem

traveled from London to LAX to surprise

me for my birthday. He and I will be quar-

antining away from the rest of the family

until he can get a negative Covid test.

Like a Boss

Facts Served Up With Flair

‘I grew up in the ’90s, so

edutainment was my

bread and butter.’

A historian and social activist

delivers lively microlessons on

topics such as consent, cultural

appropriation and gender

expression to her fans on

Instagram.

Blair Imani

HISTORIAN

MAGGIE SHANNON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Interviews are conducted by email, text and
phone, then condensed and edited.