How the Black Press Helped Integrate Baseball
In the 1930s and ’40s, Black newspapers like the Pittsburgh Courier used their platform to help break the sport’s color line.
The Gumshoes Who Took On the Klan
In the pages of Black Mask magazine, the Continental Op and Race Williams fought the KKK even as they shared its love of vigilante justice.
The Scholars Charting Black Music’s Timeline: Douglas Henry Daniels & Paul Austerlitz
Daniels and Austerlitz tell the story of jazz, from its origins in the blues, gospel, and funk to its impact on music around the world.
Understanding the Indian Child Welfare Act
The ICWA wasn’t implemented perfectly, but it reversed a centuries-old pattern of removing Native children from their families and their tribes.
This Revolution Will Be Amplified
From Lil Nas X to Valerie June to Darius Rucker, Black musicians are staking their claim in country music. Francesca T. Royster explains.
The Scholars Charting Black Music’s Timeline: Tammy Kernodle & Stephanie Shonekan
Kernodle and Shonekan explore the contributions of Black Americans to classical music and the importance of music and song for social justice movements.
Temperance Melodrama on the Nineteenth-Century Stage
Produced by the master entertainer P. T. Barnum, a melodrama about the dangers of alcohol was the first show to run for a hundred performances in New York City.
How Bill Russell Changed the Game, On and Off the Court
NBA player and coach Bill Russell was a leader and legend, fighting for civil rights even as racists harassed him from the sidelines.
How Wattstax Ushered in a New Era of Black Art
Organized in the aftermath of the 1965 Watts uprising, the music festival showed that something powerful was happening in the Black community.