African-American history

Airbnb has come under major scrutiny recently after some listings proudly boasted about being built on the grounds of former slave cabins.

Alice Walker’s soul-stirring novel “The Color Purple” depicted the lives of African-American women living in the Deep South In the early 1900s. The book won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction on April 18, 1983, making Walker the first Black woman to win the award. The book focuses primarily on the life of Celie, a young […]

Famed NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, portrayed in the film “Hidden Figures” by Taraji P. Henson, joins 16 other women in getting the Barbie doll treatment to celebrate International Women’s Day. Mattel has announced the release of 17 new Barbie dolls — including 14 one-of-a-kind dolls that are styled after modern-day role models for its “Shero” […]

University of California professor Raphael Bostic has made history Monday as the first African-American president of one of the Federal Reserve's 12 regional banks.

Microsoft Corp. has donated $1 million to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, which opens this fall after five years of construction. “The stories, art and culture of African-Americans are vibrant and important narratives in our nation’s history,” said Fred Humphries, corporate vice president of U.S. government affairs for Microsoft. “Microsoft […]

Dr. Barbara Ross-Lee isn’t famous for singing like her sister Diana Ross, but she is a star in her own right. Dr. Ross-Lee is the first Black woman appointed as dean of an American medical school, along with other honors and accolades. Ross-Lee was born June 1, 1942 in Detroit, Michigan. Along with her siblings, […]

It’s always great (and reassuring) to see young people tribute icons and legends, especially in the Black community. Similar to the Because Of Them, We…

ATLANTA (AP) — A new museum about the history of civil rights opens next week in Atlanta, the city where Martin Luther King Jr. was based. But the National Center for Civil and Human Rights also explores other human rights struggles, from women’s rights and LGBT issues to immigration and child labor. The museum devotes […]

The Charles H. Wright Museum is the world’s largest African-American museum. Located in Detroit, the museum features annual festivals, interactive exhibits and films that draw hundreds of thousands of people. Dr. Charles H. Wright, an African-American obstetrician, started the International Afro-American Museum in 1965. The traveling exhibits found a home in 1978 with the help […]

When we published a Little Known Black History Fact earlier this week, we weren’t expecting such a quick response. After all, the fact was about people who are no longer with us. But in the City of Richmond, those people are still part of a very current decision. When a minor league baseball team wanted […]

Black people have been fabulous for a long time and author/writer/social media maven Nichelle Gainer knew it. That’s why she created the Tumblr site Vintage Black Glamour (now also on Facebook,  Twitter  Pinterest  and Instagram  to showcase the style and glamour of Black people while also providing a window onto a history that tells more than […]

Harvard professor/TV host and author Henry Louis Gates, Jr. isn’t playing when it comes to Black History Month. And you shouldn’t be either, because there is truth to the saying “A people who forget their history are doomed to repeat it.” Gates’ latest project, Many Rivers to Cross the 6-part series that aired on public […]