Principles of Composition in Art and Design

An artist combines repetition, balance, proportion, movement, and other design elements to form the whole of a visual composition.
Police officers patrolling the streets at the start of the Birmingham Campaign in Birmingham, Alabama, May 1963.

The Police Dog As Weapon of Racial Terror

Police K-9 units in the United States emerged during the Civil Rights era. This was not a coincidence.

The First Famous Football Team Behind Bars

Sing Sing's football team, The Black Sheep, ascended to fame even though its players were incarcerated. One player was so good, he signed with the Eagles.
Elma Lewis c. 1981 by Carol Spector

Elma Lewis: Boston’s Doyenne of Black Culture

An activist and and educator, Lewis created myriad cultural, educational, and social programs to build community and connections for Boston’s Black residents.
Set of CBD oils and nutritional supplements made of cannabis on orange-turquoise background with cannabis leaves. Five multicolored glass bottles placed in a row. Front view

Cannabis Science, Mutual Aid, and Black Sci-Fi

Well-researched stories from SAPIENS, Nursing Clio, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
Part of the series La Città Nuova, 1914, by Antonio Sant'Elia

Exploring the Avant-Garde Architectural Manifesto

More than a century later, the architectural manifesto continues to hold our attention, emphasizing a charged moment when society was breaking with the past.
Crowd gathered in front of butcher shop during meat riot, New York

Inside the New York City Kosher Meat Boycott of 1902

The rising costs of kosher meat led Jewish women to organize a butcher boycott. The successful action alerted the immigrant community to women's political power.
Doris Miller just after being presented with the Navy Cross by Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, on board USS Enterprise at Pearl Harbor, May 27, 1942.

Remembering Doris Miller

Following his actions at Pearl Harbor, Messman Doris Miller was the first Black sailor to be honored with the Navy Cross—but only after political pressure.
An aged photo of the Leatherman wearing a thick leather coat and leather pants, looking at the camera while sitting and eating, circa June 9, 1885

The Legend of the Leatherman

From 1857 to 1889, he could be found walking a 365-mile loop in western Connecticut and eastern New York. Everybody recognized him, but no one knew his name.
A woman's mouth whispering into a man's ear.

Isabel Allende’s “Two Words”

Many have tried to guess the two magical words whispered by Allende’s character Belisa Crepusculario, but the author has yet to reveal them.