Heritage
Black Panthers and Black Lives Matter — parallels and progress
Comparing the 1960s and 1970s Black Panther Party and today’s Black Lives Matter movement reveals parallels and progress.
John Lewis traded the typical college experience for activism, arrests and jail cells
Though he had a speech impediment and came from humble beginnings, John Lewis went on to become a giant of the civil rights movement.
Black religious leaders are up front and central in US protests – as they have been for the last 200 years
From the earliest days of the anti-slavery movement, Black religious leaders have infused the fight for civil rights with spirituality.
An Innovative and Interactive Way to Learn Black History
When you first see the Black History 365 history curriculum book, it looks like any other textbook. But take a peek inside and that’s where the ordinary becomes extraordinary.
Mary Lou’s Sacred Jazz
Commentary: Mary Lou Williams inspired Duke Ellington and a generation of future jazz legends. But it’s her sacred jazz, and journey of faith, that captivated my spirit.
Juneteenth: Freedom’s promise is still denied to thousands of blacks unable to make bail
Just as with so many other criminal justice policies, pretrial detention disproportionately affects African-American men and women, destabilizing black families in the process.
Miniseries about Madam C.J. Walker Leaves Out Philanthropic Legacy
America’s first self-made female millionaire and founder of a black hair-care empire supported the NAACP and the Tuskegee Institute, helped preserve Frederick Douglass’ home. She also tried to used her prominence to stop lynching.
America’s always had black inventors, even when excluded from patents
Though U.S. patent law was created with color-blind language to foster innovation, the patent system consistently excluded black inventors born or forced into American slavery from recognition.
Meet the Black snowshoers who walked 621.3 miles across Canada in 1813
The Canadian soldiers who took part in one of the biggest feats of the War of 1812 included Black soldiers of the 104th New Brunswick Regiment of Foot.
Let America be America again
An uncompromising voice for social justice, Langston Hughes is heralded as one of America’s greatest poets. It wasn’t always this way.
60 Years Later, SNCC Offers Important Lessons for Today’s Student Activists
April 15, 2020, marks 60 years since the founding of SNCC, one of the most important organizations to engage in grassroots organizing during the modern civil rights movement, radically transforming youth culture.
How civil rights leader Wyatt Tee Walker revived hope after MLK’s death
In a sermon two weeks after MLK’s funeral, civil rights leader, Wyatt Tee Walker, urged young seminarians to be hopeful and take action for making change happen. His sermon has valuable lessons today.
7 lessons from NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson’s life and career
NASA scientist Katherine Johnson was instrumental in getting people to the moon. Here are some of the lessons one mathematics professor believes she taught us all.
How one man fought to end whites-only Dem primaries – and why that matters now
South Carolina’s black community has a long history of fighting for democratic rights.
The power of a song in a strange land
Spirituals were created out of the experience of enslaved people in the US. They weren’t songs of anger – but of an abiding belief in the victory of good over evil.
How a heritage of black preaching shaped MLK’s voice in calling for justice
A long heritage of black preachers who played an important role for enslaved people shaped Martin Luther King Jr.’s moral and ethical vision.
Often-reticent Justice Clarence Thomas speaks about his faith in new documentary
Justice Clarence Thomas, the member of the Supreme Court known for his reticence, speaks for much of a new two-hour documentary about his life called “Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words.”
On the 100th anniversary of the Negro Leagues, a look back at what was lost
While segregation was a shameful period in baseball history, the Negro Leagues were a resounding success and an immense source of pride for black America.
How African American folklore saved the cultural memory and history of slaves
All over the world, community stories, customs, and beliefs have been passed down from generation to generation. This folklore is used by elders to teach family and friends about their collective cultural past. And for African Americans, folklore has played a particularly important part in documenting history too.
Hidden figures: How black women preachers spoke truth to power
Since the 19th century, a long line of black women preachers set in motion a tradition that spoke against injustices and questioned patriarchal attitudes. Here’s their story.
The Forgotten Voices of Race Records: Pullman Porters, the Rev TT Rose, and the ‘Man with a Clarinet’
The Pullman Porters, the Rev TT Rose, and the ‘Man with a Clarinet’ — In the 1920s, many black musicians were exploited by record companies, and faded into anonymity. Here are some of their stories.
Powerful Stories Hidden in Abandoned Cemeteries
African-American cemeteries across the country have largely been neglected, their powerful histories obscured by weeds, debris and, as much as anything, the passage of time.
Why Christians Should Celebrate Black History Month
Jemar Tisby, co-founder of the Reformed African American Network, makes a case for the relevance and importance of Black History Month.
A brief history of black names, from Perlie to Latasha
A scholar disproves the long-held assumption that black names are a recent phenomenon.
MLK’s vision of love as a moral imperative still matters
In the face of violence directed at communities of color and deepening political divisions in the country, King’s words and philosophy are perhaps more critical for us today than at any point in the recent past.
What Everyone Should Know About Reconstruction
COMMENTARY: Based on my experience teaching social studies and my current work preparing social studies educators, I consider understanding what happened during the Reconstruction essential for exploring black power, resilience, and excellence.
Reform Jews call for reparations for slavery
Delegates to the Union for Reform Judaism’s biennial meeting in Chicago on Friday (Dec. 13) voted overwhelmingly to advocate for the creation of a federal commission to study and develop proposals for reparations to African Americans for slavery.
Slave life’s harsh realities are erased in Christmas tours of Southern plantations
Fictional accounts of white Southerners make it seem it was fun to be a slave on a plantation at holiday time. Many of today’s tours repeat such stories.
COMMENTARY: Learning resistance and courage from Ida B. Wells
A careful reading of Wells helps to deconstruct the current fear-based systems that serve the powers, principalities and spiritual wickedness in high places that stand in the path that leads to Beloved Community.
GI Bill opened doors to college, but black vets faced obstacles
Although the GI Bill enabled generations of former service members to acquire higher education and enter the middle class, the bill’s benefits were distributed in ways that create uneven outcomes.
What lost photos of Blue Notes say about South Africa’s jazz history
A rare set of photographs of South Africa’s most famous jazz ensemble, the Blue Notes, has added valuable insights to the music archive
Abiy Ahmed Wins Nobel Peace Prize, big challenges still await Ethiopia
Abiy Ahmed was awarded the prize for efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighbouring Eritrea.
Who was the first black child to go to an integrated school?
School integration is often thought of as something that took place in the 1960s. But the first black student to desegregate a school by court order was an Iowa girl named Susan Clark in 1868.
After 30 years leading church, Marvin Winans still says ‘music is what I do’
Winans is marking the anniversary of his church, now with 1,800 members in the Motor City, while remaining committed to helping his community through the schools and ministries he has started to help train youth and give women a safe place to live.
16th St. Baptist church to recall bombing with messages of love, action
This Sunday, the 16th Street Baptist Church marks the 56th anniversary of the attack that killed four young girls by unveiling a refurbished space where visitors can watch videos about kindness, as well as the civil rights history of the church and its community.
Using Black History and Culture to Help Students Succeed
The success of African-centered schools like Paul Robeson Malcolm X in Detroit has spurred districts in other parts of the country to replicate the approach.
Ghana’s Year of Return 2019: traveler, tourist or pilgrim?
For Africans and diasporans, learning about their heritage is important. But it remains to be seen how this will translate into a sustained continental and diasporan engagement.
400 years of black giving: From the days of slavery to the 2019 Morehouse graduation
Billionaire Robert F. Smith made a big splash when he told Morehouse grads he would pay off their student debt. Yet his generosity adheres to a long African American tradition.
Toni Morrison and the holiness of the living, breathing flesh
With Morrison, we are reminded that we are our stories. When we do not tell them, listen to them, appreciate them and learn from them, we are all poorer souls.
Pumpsie Green, 1st black player on Boston Red Sox, dies
Former Boston Red Sox infielder Elijah “Pumpsie” Green, the first black player on the last major league team to field one, has died. He was 85.
Frederick Douglass: ‘What Is July 4th to the Negro?’
The legendary abolitionist’s speech ‘The Meaning of July 4th for the Negro’ became his most famous statement on America’s struggle to live up to its own creed. What can we learn from it today?
100-Year Anniversary of the Red Summer of 1919
Many people died during the summer and fall of 1919 because of race riots in cities across the country that occurred in more than three dozen cities, including Chicago and a rural county near Elaine, AK.
Juneteenth: A Commemoration of Black Independence
Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration that commemorates the actual ending of slavery.
Alabama heralds ‘last slave ship’ discovery; ponders future
Dives into murky water, painstaking examinations of relics and technical data and rigorous peer review led historians and archaeologists to confirm last week that wreckage found in the Mobile River in 2018 was indeed the Clotilda, the last known ship to bring enslaved Africans to the United States.
How poverty is reshaping the story of Emmett Till’s murder
Scholars continue to debate what, exactly, happened to Emmett Till the morning of his murder. But that hasn’t stopped a poor Mississippi community from trying to profit off one version of the story.
A brief history of slavery reparation promises
Reparations has emerged as a hot topic among Democratic candidates hoping to replace Trump in 2020. But until now, the issue has only rarely received national attention.
Duke Ellington’s melodies carried his message of social justice
From spirituals about the trials of slavery to the fight for civil rights and the modern rhythms of swing music, Duke Ellington told a story about black life that was both beautiful and complex.
COBA Dancers: Passion through Performance, Education, and Research
The Toronto-based Collective of Black Artists (COBA) has been working to introduce audiences to African and Caribbean dances for 25 years. Keeping stories alive through dance and drumming provides connection and memory for the things we leave behind either by choice or urgency.
General’s family: From segregation to command in 100 years
Brig. Gen. Milford H. Beagle, Jr., commanding general of Fort Jackson, shares how his great-grandfather and others contributed significantly to this country without knowing what their contributions would mean to the future of the military.
‘Bloody Sunday’ altered history of a horrified nation
The images of that day in 1965 were quickly seared into the American consciousness: helmeted Alabama state troopers and mounted sheriff’s possemen beating peaceful civil rights marchers in Selma, Ala., as clouds of tear gas wafted around the Edmund Pettus Bridge. On...