Black History Around the World

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...

Biblical guide marks 400 years since enslaved Africans arrived in Virginia

A Christian anti-hunger group has released a devotional guide to mark the 400th anniversary of the arrival of enslaved Africans in Jamestown, Va.

Lessons from an Anthem

Chris Broussard, ESPN analyst and president of the K.I.N.G. movement, explores the contemporary relevance of Lift Every Voice and Sing.

After the rediscovery of a 19th-century novel, our view of black female writers is transformed

Sarah E. Farro’s rediscovered novel tells us that black women of her time read, discussed and emulated the works of people who were not like them.

Sister Thea Bowman takes step further toward canonization

Servant of God Sr. Thea Bowman, a trailblazing African-American sister who was the first black sister in her white congregation, the first black woman to address the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and an inspiration to thousands of people with her words and songs, is another step further toward sainthood.

11 Must-Read Books for Black History Month

Check out these must-have books from Black authors, spanning time periods, themes and genres. They tackle the Black experience with grace, courage, originality, and historical context.

The enigmatic man who founded southern Africa’s largest church

ZCC members at Moria City. Sowetan/Edward Maahlamela Every Easter weekend, several millions of Zion Christian Church (ZCC) faithful from across southern Africa descend on “Moria city”, the church’s capital in the north of the country, for their annual pilgrimage. The...

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