How To Explore

We’ve Been Protesting is both an archive and an experience.

The site offers multiple ways to explore protest history—each designed to highlight how resistance, culture, and artistic expression have unfolded across time. If you choose, you can also help strengthen the archive by contributing or improving entries through a careful review process.

This page explains how the site works and how you can participate.

Exploring the Archive

The Catalog (Classic View)

The Catalog presents the archive as a traditional chronological list.

• Scroll vertically through time
• Each entry appears as an individual card
• Designed for research, reference, and broad historical scanning

The Catalog is best when you want to move steadily through history or quickly locate specific events or works.

The Exhibit (Interactive View)

The Exhibit Timeline offers a more immersive way to experience protest history.

Instead of continuous scrolling, time is structured and navigable.

How time is represented

• Each block on the timeline represents one month of a given year
• A single month may include:
  • People
  • Historical events
  • Songs
  • Art
  • Literature
  • Quotes

Items are grouped by time to show how cultural expression and historical conditions intersected in that moment.

How to navigate

• Jump between eras to move across major historical periods
• Use Play to watch history unfold over time
• Slow down or focus on specific months to explore details

The Exhibit emphasizes protest as a continuous cultural tradition, not isolated incidents.

Exploring a Moment in Time

Clicking a month opens a detailed view of everything attributed to that period.

From there, you can explore:

• What happened
• Who was involved
• What was created
• What was said

Each entry is contextualized and connected to its broader historical moment.

Improving the Archive

History is not static, and neither is this archive.

If you notice:

• Missing context
• Incorrect or unclear dates
• Incomplete descriptions
• Additional sources worth including

You can submit a proposed edit for review by clicking Edit on an entry.

Edits are not published instantly. All changes are reviewed to ensure accuracy, sourcing, and consistency.

Contributing New Content

If you log in, you can submit new material to We’ve Been Protesting for review.

What you can contribute

• Historical events connected to African American protest or resistance
• Songs or artistic works created in response to historical conditions

What we ask for

At minimum:

• A clear title
• A date or approximate timeframe
• A brief description
• Sources, when available

More detail helps, but accuracy matters more than completeness.

What Happens After You Submit

All submissions enter a review process. Editors may:

• Verify dates and facts
• Add historical context
• Request clarification
• Decline submissions that cannot be validated

This process protects the integrity of the archive and the people represented within it.

What This Is Not

• Not instant publishing
• Not opinion commentary
• Not a social feed

We’ve Been Protesting is a historical archive, not a platform for real-time reaction.

Why Care Matters

This archive represents real people, real events, and real histories.

Careful exploration and thoughtful contribution ensure that protest is remembered with dignity, accuracy, and respect.