The First Black Woman to Perform at the Grand Ole Opry
Linda Martell made the switch from R&B to country music in the late 1960s. Her star then shined on country's biggest stage.
How Black Communities Built Their Own Schools
Rosenwald schools, named for a philanthropist, were funded mostly by Black people of the segregated South.
The Newport Rebels and Jazz as Protest
In 1960 a group of jazz musicians organized an alternative to the Newport Jazz Festival, which they saw as too pop and too white.
Is Political Backlash Real?
Many people assume that strong movements for minority rights provoke backlash at the polls. But some scholars have doubts.
The First Black-Owned Bookstore and the Fight for Freedom
Black abolitionist David Ruggles opened the first Black-owned bookstore in 1834, pointing the way to freedom—in more ways than one.
Interview: The League of Revolutionary Black Workers
Two industrial workers, members of Detroit’s League of Revolutionary Black Workers, share experiences with political organizing and education.
The Detroit Rebellion
From 1964 to 1972, at least 300 U.S. cities faced violent upheavals, the biggest led by the League of Revolutionary Black Workers, in Detroit.
How Black Artists Fought Exclusion in Museums
When the Metropolitan Museum of Art excluded artworks from a major exhibition all about Harlem, Black artists protested the erasure.
How Black Americans Co-opted the Fourth of July
After the Civil War, white southerners saw the Fourth of July as a celebration of Confederate defeat. Black southerners saw opportunities.
Shirley Chisholm: Sisterhood Is Complicated
A 1974 interview on feminism and politics with the first Black major-party candidate for president.