In Her Campus’ series Next Question, we rapid-fire interview talent Gen Z loves about what it’s like to rule over pop culture. This month, Taylor Cassidy is in the hot seat to answer our burning questions.
For many students in history classes, Black history felt more like a quick overview than a full story — a few familiar names, a few key events, and then the unit ended. And for many, it wasn’t a topic that came up much at home either. The result? A generation that grew up knowing pieces of Black history, but not the depth, creativity, and everyday lives behind those names and moments. That gap in understanding is something Taylor Cassidy noticed long before she became one of TikTok’s leading voices on Black history. For her, the realization happened quietly in a high school classroom.
“It was a hard year listening to other students’ answers,” Cassidy tells Her Campus in an exclusive interview. “Whenever we would talk about slavery and the Civil Rights Movement, it really concerned me. Not just how ill-informed they were, but that the students truly did believe it was the truth. A lot of times it was very rooted in oppression … failing to see that Black people contributed to the United States at all.”
At home, Cassidy grew up surrounded by Black books, Black art, and Black culture, a version of history that felt alive, layered, and empowering. The disconnect between those two worlds sparked something in her, but the outlet for it would come from somewhere unexpected: TikTok.
Cassidy joined the app long before it was cool. “I was on TikTok very early. People were looking at it like, oh that’s cheesy, that’s corny,” she laughs. Her first videos were inside jokes for friends: PSAT memes, random thoughts before class, and eventually, the morning pep talks that would unexpectedly take off. “I would film these videos before school, where I was like, ‘You’re beautiful, you got this, you can do it.’ I was trying to pump myself up for school. And people really resonated with that.”
By the end of January during her junior year of high school, Cassidy had a sizable following. And as her audience grew, she felt the calling to use her platform for something bigger. “It didn’t make sense for me to have a platform, and then go to school every day and see something missing from my age group in understanding Black history,” she says.
So on Feb. 1, 2020 — the first day of Black History Month — she made a choice. She filmed a 15-second educational video about Percy Julian, a Black chemist, in a quick attempt to make history engaging through comedy and trends. It went viral. And Fast Black History began.
“I tried to make Black history as fun as I learned it at home,” Cassidy explains. Her approach blended research with a style inspired by the YouTube creators she grew up watching. “MyLifeAsEva, Wassabi Productions. They took everyday things and made them into sketches. I incorporated a lot of that into Fast Black History.” Humor wasn’t the point, but it was the hook. “I cannot singlehandedly fill the gap in that history education in America, but at the very least, I can spark more people’s interest. And that’s what was going through my head whenever I first started it,” Cassidy says.
Even as the series exploded, Cassidy approached each video as a student, not an authority. “I always take the position of, ‘I am not an expert. I’m the student first,’” she says. When she sees something trending in Black culture, she asks where it came from and begins researching. Then, she condenses everything into a one-minute script that tells the “gist of things as accurately as possible.” The videos aren’t meant to be comprehensive for her followers. “It’s more to spark curiosity for them to go and learn more.”
One story in the series transformed the way Cassidy understood the power of art: Billie Holiday. Holiday’s protests through her song “Strange Fruit” and the government’s response to it shocked Cassidy. “It taught me that when you use art to express something real happening in society, you can make ripples that last for generations,” she says. It remains one of her favorite videos.
Cassidy’s tone in her videos, a blend of seriousness and lightness, is also deliberate. “I use jokes to keep things engaging… but only as a sprinkle on top to keep you wanting more,” she says. “If I’m coming to you as a friend and not necessarily as this teacher that’s trying to just tell you a bunch of facts, the lightness is already there.”
That perspective carried into Cassidy’s debut book, Black History Is Your History, which gives young adults the stories and historical context she wishes she had when she was younger. Cassidy has always loved reading, and she wanted the book to mirror the kind of storytelling that shaped her own curiosity. “I really wanted to do something that took this huge project I’ve been doing for years and create something a lot more long-lasting,” she says.
Writing the book also revealed something unexpected about Cassidy’s creative process. “If I start to ask and answer the questions that I think have no answer, I end up finding something I would’ve never thought of before,” she explains. Her chapter on Ida B. Wells transformed once she took the time to follow every question. “The chapter ended up completely different… it flipped completely on its head.”
Still, teaching millions comes with a lot of expectation — especially when she started at 17. “There was absolutely a lot of pressure,” Cassidy says. “Sometimes, millions of people are trusting your word on what happened in history.” She learned to meet criticism with humility. “If I don’t know something, I have to tell myself it’s OK to say so,” she says. “We’re all just trying to learn the truth, including me.”
Today, Cassidy is fully immersed in her creative world. She’s promoting her book, planning the next round of Fast Black History videos, and working on YouTube’s Black Girl Magic Minute, a mini-documentary series blending interviews, sketches, and cultural storytelling.
As Cassidy looks ahead, she’s embracing curiosity again, and being a student of Black history.
These responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Who’s your favorite Black historical figure and why?
Maya Angelou. I’ve read so many of her books, and her way of seeing life has changed mine. I love the fact that she had been so many different things throughout her life. The amount of careers this woman had was crazy. It always reminds me that I don’t have to be one thing my whole life. I can take risks, and it’s going to be OK in the end.
Who’s your most underrated figure in Black history?
Mary Richards. She was freed from slavery around the time of the Civil War, and the woman who freed her later asked her to go back into slavery as a spy in the Confederate White House in Jefferson Davis’s crib because she had a photographic memory. She passed secrets to the Union and helped them win the war. I feel like more people should know that.
Your favorite Fast Black History episode you’ve ever made?
Besides the Billie Holiday one, definitely my “40 acres and a mule” video. I reposted it this year in connection with the Super Bowl, when Kendrick Lamar was talking about 40 acres and a mule, and I thought that reference tied in absolutely perfectly with the style of storytelling that I used for that video. It was like a match made in heaven.
One Black history figure you haven’t covered yet, but you want to?
I want to cover Marcus Garvey. I only know a summary about him, and I want to take the time to dive in and really learn more about him and share what I’ve learned.
What TikTok trend are you secretly obsessed with right now?
The trend where you share a beautiful place that you’re at, and then you put, “Girl, whatever.” I like it because it’s kind of saying, whatever you’re stressed or worrying about, look around you.
Go-to comfort show or movie?
B.A.P.S. That’s my favorite movie ever. My favorite comfort show is A Different World.
One book, movie, or show that changed your perspective recently?
How to Get Good With Money by Tiffany Aliche. It gave me a refresher on different financial advice that really helped me and made me feel more confident. The author is a Black woman, and that perspective and her experience growing up in a Black household really helped me.
What era are you in for 2026?
My Dreamer Era, because I feel like over the past few years, I have seen a lot of my high school dreams come true, which I’m so grateful for. Now it’s time to find out what my new dreams are, and I think that’s very exciting.