Fantastical Fact Fellowship (FFF): consists of individuals known for their ability to offer historical facts that often seem quite fantastic. Examples of their work include the now famous Willie Lynch document, the etymological origin of the word picnic” from the common 20th Century American lynch era phrase “pick-a-n*gger,” or even the assertion that the first President of the United States was a black man (John Hanson). These types usually occupy online groups, forums and listservs.

Pros: mean well; may often highlight interesting historical matters in the context of their “facts” (i.e., the brutality of slavery associated with discussions of the Willie Lynch letter; the normalization of extreme violence in the lynching era associated with etymological investigations into the word picnic;”providing insight into the Articles of Confederation that preceded the government structure as we know it when addressing the John Hanson assertion).

Cons: a little research often discredits their claims (i.e., the Willie Lynch letter is not only most likely a modern forgery, but its seemingly well-intentions actually obscure the importance of black resistance to slavery and absolves the role of post-1700s racism in understanding issues of the modern black community; “picnic” is a French derived word, piquenique, that originates in the 1600s and thus some 300 years before the lynching era of 20th century America; John Hanson, the first US president, was very white”and is often confused by the FFF with a black Liberian senator of another era who shares the same name); damages the work of accomplished African-centered scholars by making fantastical claims of the ancient world (Africans sailed everywhere and built everything---including supposedly Atlantis); will make the most spurious links (often through linguistics) to assert positions that all other forms of evidence deny; all their sources come from 19th Century Europeans but will label anyone who critiques their assertions as Eurocentric, brainwashed by “white” learning, etc. (including other more moderate African-centered scholars).

Suggestions: The drawback of a literate society is that if something is written down we tend to assume it must be true. Any assertion you read should be followed up with research, especially if it sounds overly fantastic. The key tool here is critical analysis; employ it. Realize that no matter how well the intention, misinformation is detrimental in the long run---especially when those who seek to discredit Black Studies (Eurocentrists) seize upon these fringe claims and use them as representative of the discipline as a whole. There are a lot of black facts out there in the metric tons; there’s never a need to make up anything.