Notes from the first year : "this is how we lost to the white man" -- Notes from the second year : American girl -- Notes from the third year : why do so few blacks study the Civil War? -- Notes from the fourth year : the legacy of Malcolm X -- Notes from the fifth year : fear of a black president -- Notes from the sixth year : the case for reparations -- Notes from the seventh year : the black family in the age of mass incarceration -- Notes from the eighth year : my president was black.