History

A Native woman wearing a blue hoodie stands next to a pole with signs symbolizing historic fights
Mary Annette Pember  Jan 9, 2019 11:47AM EST

Inside the Long, Hard Fight to Stop the Bayou Bridge Oil Pipeline

For more than two years, Indigenous water protectors, Black residents of “Cancer Alley,” Atchafalaya Basin landowners and others have been protesting, suing and, in some cases, doing felony-level direct action, to halt the completion of the Bayou Bridge Pipeline in Louisiana. Here’s the harsh reality of fighting the inevitable in the bayou.
Madam C.J. Walker. Sepia-toned archival photograph of Black people in formal attire on grounds and steps of white mansion
Sameer Rao  Dec 20, 2018 2:01PM EST

Madam C.J. Walker's Home Will Be Hub for WOC Entrepreneurs

New Voices Foundation aims to carry the late beauty mogul’s property and passion for women’s entrepreneurship into the future.
Rosa Parks. Black-and-white photograph of Black woman in black blazer and white shirt at desk and in front of office furniture and curtain
Sameer Rao  Dec 19, 2018 12:17PM EST

Rosa Parks Biopic Focuses on Movement Defining Direct Action

“Rosa” draws from biography “The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks.”
Brown and yellow house with green lawn and brown cement walkway in front of green trees and blue sky with white clouds; the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Black-and-white photograph of Black boy in formal attire in front of grey background
Sameer Rao  Dec 17, 2018 3:05PM EST

National Park Service Acquires MLK's Childhood Home

The federal agency’s foundation plans to renovate the house, which is currently part of Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park.
Viola Davis. Black woman with black afro in black top and sparkling black blazer smiles in front of white wall with black text; Shirley Chisholm. Black-and-white image of Black woman with black afro in patterned shirt and glasses in front of grey wall
Sameer Rao  Nov 30, 2018 3:58PM EST

Viola Davis Stars As Shirley Chisholm in New Movie

“The Fighting Shirley Chisholm” follows the first Black congresswoman and her trailblazing 1972 run for president.
Sid Hill. Indigenous man in black jacket and red shirt holds grey and white Hiawatha Wampump Belt in front of lake and orange sunset and lakeside vegetation in black shadow
Sameer Rao  Oct 23, 2018 12:45PM EDT

PBS Docuseries Revisits Richness of Pre-Columbian 'Native America'

The four-part series uses Indigenous oral traditions, archeological evidence and 3-D mapping to explore the cultures that flourished before colonization.
Red and white house exterior on green lawn and gray driveway surrounded by green and brown trees
Sameer Rao  Oct 10, 2018 5:22PM EDT

John and Alice Coltrane's Long Island Home Deemed 'National Treasure'

The National Trust for Historic Preservation’s new designation builds on its work with the Coltrane family and supporters to restore the home. 
Two rows of four books including the titles we can't breather, looking for lorraine, black radical tradition, all you can ever know, ghosts in the schoolyard, unapologetic, citizen illegal and bunk
catherine lizette gonzalez  Oct 3, 2018 7:53AM EDT

The Race-Focused Books We're Reading This Fall

As the nights grow long and the warm weather recedes, let these books on race, history and culture offer you insight and reflection this fall. 
Cynthia Erivo in black and orange and pink dress in front of brown wall
Sameer Rao  Sep 19, 2018 3:34PM EDT

ICYMI: Cynthia Erivo Responds to 'Harriet' Casting Critiques

The British actress faced backlash on social media from people who said her new lead role in the upcoming Harriet Tubman biopic should have gone to an African-American actress.
Harriet Tubman, Cynthia Erivo. Two Black women. One in black in white, wearing a dark-colored dress with a white collar. The other in color wearing a gauzy peach shirt over a multicolored dress
Kenrya Rankin  Sep 14, 2018 11:55AM EDT

Cynthia Erivo to Play Harriet Tubman in New Biopic

Kasi Lemmons will direct the film, which follows the life and work of the legendary abolitionist.
Black-and-white photograph of Louis E. Lomax in suit and tie in front of black background
Sameer Rao  Aug 16, 2018 5:09PM EDT

#TBT: Remembering Louis E. Lomax, America's First Black TV Newsman

Lomax broke the television news color barrier in 1958.
Beyoncé flips blond hair while wearing gold sweatshirt and blue jean shorts behind Black marching band members in yellow shirts and black hats in front of dark background with grey smoke
Sameer Rao  Aug 16, 2018 3:20PM EDT

Listen to This Show About the Enduring Strength of the Black National Anthem

Beyoncé’s Coachella performance may have introduced “Lift Every Voice and Sing” to a new audience, but the song maintains more than a century of deep ties to African-Americans’ struggle against racism.
Mary G. Ross on a Google Doodle. Brown woman in a green dress, white pearls, with her face surrounded by a yellow and orange star with green trim. A gray satellite, starry space and Earth are behind her
Kenrya Rankin  Aug 9, 2018 11:01AM EDT

Google Doodle Honors Mary G. Ross, First Native American Female Engineer

The pioneering aeronautical engineer helped design concepts for space travel to Venus and Mars.
Black-and-white photograph of Malcolm X in glasses and suit with white shirt in front of patterened wall
Sameer Rao  Jul 27, 2018 1:15PM EDT

The Schomburg Acquires Lost Chapter of Malcolm X Biography

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture purchased the unpublished section of “The Autobiography of Malcolm X,” titled “The Negro,” at auction for $7,000.
Black-and-white image of Ida B. Wells in black jacket and white shirt in front of wood wall
Sameer Rao  Jul 18, 2018 1:41PM EDT

Family, Supporters Raise $300,000 for Ida B. Wells Memorial

The donations will allow the construction of a monument to the racial justice activist and journalist in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood.
Black-and-white image of Ida B. Wells in black and white attire in front of grey background
Sameer Rao  Jul 16, 2018 2:30PM EDT

Celebrating Ida B. Wells On Her Birthday

Today marks the trailblazing journalist and activist’s 156th birthday. Here’s why her work still resonates through media, activism and history—and what is being done to memorialize a life well lived.
Feds reopen investigation into Emmett Till's death.
Alfonso Serrano  Jul 12, 2018 1:05PM EDT

Department of Justice Reopens Investigation Into Slaying of Emmett Till

Citing new information in the case, the federal government will again examine the 1955 killing of the Black 14-year-old boy in Mississippi.
John Lewis. Black man holds small booklet with "The Constitution of the United States" on the front.
Kenrya Rankin  Jul 9, 2018 2:48PM EDT

An Education: Today Marks 150th Anniversary of 14th Amendment

As President Donald Trump prepares to announce his Supreme Court nominee, here’s why the amendment’s promise of “equal protection of the laws” still matters.
Black-and-white image of Black and White men in suits surrounding White man sitting at a desk
Sameer Rao  Jul 2, 2018 2:45PM EDT

Civil Rights Act of 1964 Turns 54 Amid Threats to Justice

Read the act, which put in place protections against discrimination based on “race, color, religion, sex or national origin.”
Black-and-white image of Black man with black and grey hair in black and white formal attire in front of grey wall
Sameer Rao  Jul 2, 2018 12:24PM EDT

How Frederick Douglass Challenged the Hypocrisy of Independence Day

“What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days of the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is a constant victim.”