7 Trivia, Board Games That Will Test Your Knowledge of Black History and Culture

Republic & Co.'s "Cards for the Culture" Trivia: Think you know every line of "Martin?" Seen every episode of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air?" Republic and Co.'s "Cards for the Culture" trivia tests players' knowledge of Black television and movie classics like "Martin," "House Party," "A Different World," "Coming to America," and "Friday." The company's card library also includes trivia on 90's R&B, Black RomCom's and even a Ladies' Night edition. "Cards for the Culture is committed to reconnecting the culture through its trivia games by providing memorable and nostalgic experiences to new acquaintances, longtime friends, families and loved ones," the company's website states. Black Card Revoked by Cards for All People: Released in July 2015, Black Card Revoked is a "fun and nostalgia-filled game celebrating American Black popular culture ... bound to invoke hilarious debates among young and old alike," according to the company's website. The family fun game plays up to 6 people and includes 81 question cards on all things Black culture. Players can turn up the fun with one of several expansion packs including the Black History edition, the Jolloff & Fufu edition and the Girls Night Out edition. The goal: "Don't get your Black card revoked!" Trading Races by Kenyatta Forbes: Chicago tech coordinator Kenyatta Forbes had fun and "being woke" in mind when he created Trading Races, a card game that prompts players to challenge the so-called Blackness of the people featured on the cards, according to Essence. The objective of the game is to strike up intriguing conversation on what makes one person more conscious/woke or " Black" than the other. For instance, who's more woke? Justice Clarence Thomas or Rachel Dolezal? "To start the game, each player draws five cards," Forbes explained on his Kickstarter page, which has amassed more than $4,000 in contributions. "One randomly chosen player begins and plays a card. Everyone else selects a card from their hand that reflects a higher level of blackness and places their card down. Each player defends their card selection in relationship to the other players card ... As a group, players must come to a consensus on which card is blacker." "BLACKBOARD" Board Game by Little Africa: This educational Black history game brings friends and families together for a time of fun and learning. Players begin with a chain that has 7 removable links; the game is played by rolling the dice and moving the game piece (an Amistad slave ship) around the board, after which a player must answer the category question for each space. For every correct answer, a chain link is removed, and vice versa. The first player to run out of links, wins the game. "BLACKBOARD" takes you through the high-roads and perils of the past/present experience of a Black American," the game's description reads. "You might ESCAPE from slavery and be CAPTURED, or you could make it to the UNDERGROUND RAILROAD and on to FREEDOM. But, Beware! REAGANOMICS will send you back, and there's always a TOM waiting to betray you. But don't worry! There's a good chance you'll find a REAL BROTHER or REAL SISTER to lend a helping hand." The "Nguzo Saba 7 Principles" Board Game: This board game focuses on the seven principals of Kwanzaa — Umoja, Kujichagulia, Ujima, Ujamaa, Nia, Kuumba and Imani — while exploring other key aspects of African-American history and culture. Players must spin the wheel, move their game piece and draw a trivia card from the deck. The first player to gain all seven principals wins the game. "Say It Loud!" by Jacquetta Bess: "Say it Loud!" touts itself as the ULTIMATE Black culture trivia game, challenging players' knowledge on everything from classic Black movies and television to music and literature. The game requires one host and two teams of at least two players. Once the host asks a question/clue, the team that shakes their maraca and answers the question correctly first wins a letter. The first team to spell out S-A-Y-I-T wins that round. The team that wins all three rounds wins the game. "The concept of Say it LOUD! has been brewing for many years," Bess told Madame Noire. Growing up, my family’s home was always filled with great music. If I started singing along to an old song on the radio, he’d say something like, “You don’t know nothing ‘bout that. I’ll give you a dollar if you can tell me who’s singing”—and the guessing would begin." In Search of Identity Board Game by Lucy Holifield: This vintage board game, released in 1983, tests players' knowledge of famous African-Americans and key aspects of Black history and culture. The goal is to rack up points by correctly answering trivia questions on the aforementioned topics. This educational, fun game is designed for players of all ages. In 2016, a #BringBacktheGame campaign was started to help re-launch the board game.

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