Newsletter comparison
Footnotes by Jemar Tisby vs History Can't Hide from Kahlil Greene
Short answer: Choose Footnotes for sustained analysis of race and American institutions. Choose History Can't Hide for public-history stories and contested memory. Keep both when you want to understand the structure and the story people have been taught about it.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
An independent guide. Scottie isn't affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Footnotes by Jemar Tisby and History Can't Hide from Kahlil Greene. Each publication owns its name, writing, and subscription terms.
A brief from both newsletters · July 31, 2026
See both newsletters in one brief
See what made the brief, what didn't, and the original links behind every included story.
In this brief: Scottie combined overlapping coverage and kept other stories separate.
Reader priorities
A reader wants overlooked U.S. racial history connected clearly to the institutions, monuments, and political choices of the present.
These are illustrative priorities, not a customer’s data.
What made the brief
- Footnotes by Jemar Tisby2 read · 2 included
- History Can't Hide from Kahlil Greene10 read · 4 included
Scottie
Scottie example brief
July 31, 2026 · Executive brief
01 / The rundown
- A White House report accuses the Smithsonian of radical ideology after a speaker compared ICE enforcement to the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act.
- A new book connects Mount Rushmore's creation on sacred Lakota land to Klan-affiliated sculptor Gutzon Borglum and broken federal treaties.
- Planned Parenthood's leadership is publicly confronting founder Margaret Sanger's eugenics legacy while working to eliminate modern racial healthcare bias.
02 / The briefing
01 / main
White House Targets Smithsonian Museum Over Modern History Presentation
The takeaway: A 162-page White House report accuses the Smithsonian of ideological capture, focusing on a 2024 Youth Summit speaker who compared modern ICE practices to the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act.
Concrete details
- The 162-page report cites a 2024 summit to argue the Smithsonian promotes political activism among teenagers.
- The 1850 Fugitive Slave Act paid federal commissioners ten dollars to send accused people south.
Why it matters for this reader: For your focus on present political choices, this report demonstrates how federal authority targets public institutions over historical interpretations.
Original sourcesHistory Can't Hide from Kahlil GreeneFootnotes by Jemar Tisby
02 / main
Modern Reconciliation Display at Stone Mountain Ignores Klan History
The takeaway: A viral display of men carrying a cross up Georgia's Stone Mountain overlooked the landmark's history as the 1915 rebirth site of the Ku Klux Klan, where cross burnings were first introduced.
Concrete details
- White men established the modern Ku Klux Klan atop Stone Mountain on Thanksgiving eve in 1915.
- Klan members marched 50,000 strong through Washington, D.C. a decade after the mountain ceremony.
Why it matters for this reader: This history shows how contemporary calls for racial unity fall short when public rituals ignore past racial terror at memorial sites.
Original sourcesFootnotes by Jemar Tisby
03 / main
New Book Uncovers Mount Rushmore Ties to White Supremacy
The takeaway: Author Matthew Davis traces how Mount Rushmore was carved into sacred Lakota land stolen after the U.S. violated the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty, designed by a sculptor with Klan ties.
Concrete details
- The 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty promised the sacred Black Hills to the Lakota before gold rush expeditions.
- Sculptor Gutzon Borglum worked on Georgia's Confederate monument before starting work on Mount Rushmore.
Why it matters for this reader: This research connects national monument creation directly to broken treaties, land theft, and white supremacist sculptors.
Original sourcesHistory Can't Hide from Kahlil Greene
04 / main
Planned Parenthood Confronts Founder's Eugenics Legacy and Medical Bias
The takeaway: Planned Parenthood CEO Alexis McGill Johnson is addressing founder Margaret Sanger's eugenics history while launching new initiatives to dismantle persistent racial bias in modern healthcare and medical treatment.
Concrete details
- Government-funded forced sterilization programs legally operated across 32 American states in the 20th century.
- Planned Parenthood created the Black Health Equity Initiative to address medical disparities facing Black women.
Why it matters for this reader: This institution's public reckoning links historical eugenics choices directly to contemporary systemic inequities in modern healthcare delivery.
Original sourcesHistory Can't Hide from Kahlil Greene
05 / main
Recovered 1922 Photo Highlights Early Black American Islamic History
The takeaway: Historian Zaheer Ali details the life of Florence Watts, a Great Migration traveler whose 1922 photograph documents Black Muslim women in Chicago thirty years before the Nation of Islam gained fame.
Concrete details
- A 1922 photograph captures the earliest known image of visibly Muslim Black American women in Chicago.
- South Asian Ahmadiyya movement missionaries helped introduce Islamic traditions to Black migrants during the 1920s.
Why it matters for this reader: Understanding Florence Watts connects early 20th-century Black migration and religious history to modern institutions of American faith.
Original sourcesHistory Can't Hide from Kahlil Greene
Action items
- Examine the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty details to understand historical federal land agreements with the Lakota.
- Review the Black Health Equity Initiative metrics to see how healthcare providers address historical systemic biases.
See every issue behind this brief
Mount Rushmore's White Supremacist Origins
- Mount Rushmore was Created by a White SupremacistHistory Can't Hide from Kahlil Greene · Included
Stone Mountain Confederate Ceremony History
- Don't Do Racial Reconciliation Like ThisFootnotes by Jemar Tisby · Included
Early Black American Islamic History
- Muslims Have Been in America Since the Beginning w/ Zaheer AliHistory Can't Hide from Kahlil Greene · Included
White House Report Targets Smithsonian Museum
- The Trump Administration Targeted Me, BY NAME—Accused Me of Radicalizing TeensHistory Can't Hide from Kahlil Greene · Included
- Why "Objective" History Is a MythFootnotes by Jemar Tisby · Included
Planned Parenthood's Legacy and Modern Care
- Planned Parenthood Had a Racist Founder—Here's what the CEO has to SayHistory Can't Hide from Kahlil Greene · Included
Curaçao Black history trip
- Captain Morgan Owned 131 Enslaved People, and Other Things I Learned in CuraçaoHistory Can't Hide from Kahlil Greene · Read, not included
Oxford Union debate on
- I Went to Oxford to Defend Youth Activism. Here’s How I Won the Debate.History Can't Hide from Kahlil Greene · Read, not included
Trump 2025 financial disclosure
- Trump Has Made $2.2 Billion Since Taking Office. Presidents Used to Give That Up.History Can't Hide from Kahlil Greene · Read, not included
Social media backlash on
- Why the Internet Turned on ArgentinaHistory Can't Hide from Kahlil Greene · Read, not included
Hollywood plastic surgery trends
- Black Features, White Faces: Hollywood's Plastic Surgery Obsession Came From Race ScienceHistory Can't Hide from Kahlil Greene · Read, not included
Avatar film streaming release
- This New Kids' Movie Is About Surviving Genocide—Avatar: The Last Airbender ReviewHistory Can't Hide from Kahlil Greene · Read, not included
The useful difference
The difference that matters
Jemar Tisby emphasizes the history of race, Christianity, and institutions. Kahlil Greene works through public memory, overlooked people, monuments, and accessible historical explanation.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
What each is best for
Footnotes by Jemar Tisby
Footnotes contributes historical arguments about race, Christianity, political institutions, and the limits of claims to neutral history.[1][2][3]
History Can't Hide from Kahlil Greene
History Can't Hide contributes accessible stories about overlooked people, monuments, democracy, and the present consequences of public memory.[4][5][6]
When it’s worth reading both
Scottie can group the shared historical event while retaining each writer's evidence, framing, and judgment about its present meaning.[1][2][3][4][5][6]