The Combahee River Collective Statement: Annotated
The Black feminist collective's 1977 statement has been a bedrock document for academics, organizers and theorists for 45 years.
John B. Cade’s Project to Document the Stories of the Formerly Enslaved
A recently digitized slave narrative collection consists of original manuscripts compiled by John Brother Cade and his students at Southern University.
Desegregating Bowling Alleys
The bowling desegregation movement began during World War II, but wouldn’t end there.
The Zoot Suit Riots Were Race Riots
In 1943, white servicemen attacked young people of color for wearing the ultimate in street style—on the pretext that they were shirking wartime duty.
Teaching Black Women’s Self-Care during Jim Crow
Maryrose Reeves Allen founded a wellness program at Howard University in 1925 that emphasized the physical, mental, and spiritual health of Black women.
How Black Americans Fought for Literacy
From the moment US Army troops arrived in the South, newly freed people sought ways to gain education—particularly to learn to read and write.
Marcus Garvey’s Journey Began in Central America
Marcus Garvey left Jamaica unemployed, an anti-colonial trade unionist who British authorities considered dangerous.
The Black Cops Who Fought Brutality on Their Own Force
In 1960s Chicago, members of the Afro-American Patrolman's League challenged oppressive policing in Black communities.
Black Women Have Written History for over a Century
Barriers of racism and sexism slowed them down, but academia wasn't their only venue.
Black Cowboys and the History of the Rodeo
Long overlooked in histories of the West, African-American rodeo stars also faced discrimination and erasure in that sport, too.