{{Short description|American historical interpreter}} '''Cheyney McKnight''' is an African-American historical interpreter and educator, known for her interpretation company and online handle '''Not Your Momma's History'''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Spellings |first=Sarah |date=2023-03-08 |title=For These Women of Color, Historical Dressing Is a Modern Art Form |url=https://www.vogue.com/article/for-these-women-of-color-historical-dressing-is-a-modern-art-form |access-date=2023-04-24 |website=Vogue |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Early life and education == McKnight grew up in Atlanta and was interested in history from a young age, particularly her family's stories of the Civil Rights Movement.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Beery |first=Zoë |title=Say goodbye to your happy plantation narrative |url=https://theoutline.com/post/3956/cheyney-mcknight-not-your-mommas-history-profile |access-date=2023-04-24 |website=The Outline |language=en}}</ref>

She graduated from Simmons University, where she studied political science, in 2011.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=13 February 2019 |title=Changing the Narrative of Slavery with Cheyney McKnight '11 {{!}} Simmons University |url=https://www.simmons.edu/news/changing-narrative-slavery-cheyney-mcknight-11 |access-date=2023-04-24 |website=www.simmons.edu |language=en}}</ref>

== Historical interpretation == McKnight works as a historical interpreter at locations such as Colonial Williamsburg,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-09-25 |title=Historic interpreters are changing the conversation about race |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/historic-interpreters-changing-the-conversation-about-race |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210218120304/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/historic-interpreters-changing-the-conversation-about-race |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 18, 2021 |access-date=2023-04-24 |website=Travel |language=en}}</ref> Genesee Country Village and Museum,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rafferty |first=Rebecca |title=Genesee Country Village & Museum reckons with representation |url=https://www.roccitynews.com/life/genesee-country-village-and-museum-reckons-with-representation-13239215 |access-date=2023-04-24 |website=CITY News |language=en}}</ref> Historic Richmond Town,<ref name=":1" /> and Museum of the American Revolution<ref>{{Cite web |date=22 July 2021 |title='Meet the Revolution' Series Sheds Light on the Lives of Revolutionary-Era Black Women and Men this Summer |url=https://www.amrevmuseum.org/press-releases/meet-the-revolution-series-sheds-light-on-the-lives-of-revolutionary-era-black-women-and-men-this-summer |access-date=23 April 2023 |website=Museum of the American Revolution}}</ref> to teach people about the lives of African Americans in American history, particularly during the 18th and 19th centuries.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Nadal |first=Emily |date=2022-06-13 |title=Cheyney McKnight just wants to relax and celebrate on Juneteenth |url=https://www.audacy.com/1010wins/news/local/cheyney-mcknight-just-wants-to-relax-on-juneteenth |access-date=2023-04-24 |website=www.audacy.com |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Endter |first=Kelsey |date=2021-04-27 |title=Historical Interpreter Brings Black History Into The Spotlight |url=https://www.cosplaycentral.com/themes/historical/feature/historical-interpreter-brings-black-history-into-the-spotlight |access-date=2023-04-24 |website=Cosplay Central |language=en}}</ref> She also works with museums and their staff to create resources and improve staff's ability to educate visitors on slavery and African American history.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Fernando |first=Christine |date=27 March 2021 |title=Many history interpreters of color carry weight of racism |url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/mar/27/many-history-interpreters-of-color-carry-weight-of/ |access-date=2023-04-24 |website=The Spokesman-Review}}</ref> McKnight is a member of the New York Historical Society.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Living History: Cooking Spooky Treats with Ms. Cheyney |url=https://www.nyhistory.org/programs/living-history-cooking-spooky-treats?date=2022-10-23 |access-date=2023-04-24 |website=www.nyhistory.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=3 April 2023 |title=LET'S LEARN: Objects and Money from Long Ago |url=https://www.pbs.org/video/objects-and-money-long-ago-2okrzi/ |access-date=23 April 2023 |website=PBS}}</ref>

McKnight began interpreting in 2013.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Rougeau |first=Naomi |date=2021-07-22 |title=Are You Over Normcore? Meet Its Fancy Sibling, Regency-Core |url=https://www.elle.com/fashion/a36664409/regencycore-fashion-influencers/ |access-date=2023-04-24 |website=ELLE |language=en-US}}</ref> Her first event was a reenactment of the Battle of Gettysburg, where she portrayed a 22-year old free woman.<ref name=":1" /> As she began participating in more events, she became disappointed with how African Americans were portrayed or discussed, often only in relation to who owned them rather than their own internal lives and experiences.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2018-02-14 |title=This Woman Is Making Sure Historical Reenactments Get Slavery Right |url=https://www.racked.com/video/2018/2/14/17012580/cheney-mcknight-historic-reenactor-clothing-slavery |access-date=2023-04-24 |website=Racked |language=en}}</ref> In 2014, in response to these experiences, McKnight founded Not Your Momma's History, which offered workshops of her own making for museums and schools.<ref name=":1" />

In 2017 McKnight officially began working solely on Not Your Momma's History.<ref name=":1" /> That same year, she staged a reoccurring work of performance art in Manhattan called #SlaveryMadePlain, during which she held a sign saying “What to a Slave Is the Fourth of July” while wearing historical dress.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" />

In 2019 McKnight was included in the book ''The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Beauty'', where she spoke on enslaved people's dress and hair.<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-06-03 |title=Introducing "The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Beauty" |url=https://blog.americanduchess.com/2019/06/introducing-american-duchess-guide-to.html |access-date=2023-04-24 |website=American Duchess Blog |language=en-US}}</ref>

In November 2020 McKnight dressed as an enslaved mother and stood outside the U.S. Capitol to call attention both to how emancipated African Americans struggled to find their relatives after the Civil War, and the separation of families at the United States' southern border.<ref name=":5" />

In 2021 McKnight was chosen as an African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund Fellow by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. As part of this, she created a project titled "''The Ancestor’s Future: An Afrofuturist Journey Through History''", which was staged at the Woodlawn & Pope-Leighey House as "both a piece of performance art and a conversation inspired by Afrofuturism".<ref>{{Cite web |last=McKnight |first=Cheyney |date=25 April 2022 |title=An Afrofuturist Journey Through History |url=https://savingplaces.org/stories/an-afrofuturist-journey-through-history |access-date=2023-04-24 |website=National Trust for Historic Preservation |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2022 McKnight set up a portable table in different locations in New York City a few times a month, and encouraged passersby to speak to her and ask questions about slavery and its history in the city.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" />

{{As of|2023|April}} McKnight's YouTube channel has 239,000 subscribers and more than 7.45 million total views.<ref>{{Cite web |title=NotYourMommasHistory |url=https://www.youtube.com/@NotYourMommasHistory/about |access-date=23 April 2023 |website=YouTube}}</ref>

== Personal life == McKnight is a direct descendent of enslaved African Americans.<ref name=":0" /> As of 2022, she lives in Harlem.<ref name=":3" /> McKnight also chooses to wear some historically inspired clothing in her day to day life, which she has referred to as a type of afrofuturism.<ref name=":0" />

== External links ==

* [http://www.notyourmommashistory.com Official website]

== References == <references />

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKnight, Cheyney}} Category:1990s births Category:Living people Category:21st-century African-American educators Category:21st-century African-American women Category:21st-century American educators Category:21st-century American women educators Category:American TikTokers Category:Educators from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Educators from New York City Category:People from Harlem Category:American performance artists Category:Reenactment of the late modern period Category:Simmons University alumni Category:YouTubers from Atlanta Category:YouTubers from Manhattan