In times past, African-Americans have pretended to pass as a white person to avoid harassment and discrimination. The reverse has happened many times as well,(think Rachel Dolezal) as in the case of Rev. L.M. Fenwick, who was a white pastor pretending to be Black. The Fenwick case is curious and not rich in detail, although historians […]
Over the weekend, the National Museum of African American History and Culture opened its doors to the public, signaling an important shift in the cataloging of Black history. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama ushered in this new era with the ringing of the “Freedom Bell” of the First Baptist Church of Williamsburg, […]
POTUS told the crowd, "This national museum helps to tell a richer and fuller story of who we are."
WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s newest museum brings to life all the pain and tribulations of the black experience and its creators expect many visitors will be shaken by what they see and hear. Slave shackles sit ominously in a glass case, surrounded by whispering hymns of past pains. Nearby are artifacts from a slave ship […]
Dr. Ossain Sweet made headlines in the summer of 1925 after he successfully defended his home from an angry white mob in Detroit. The physician and ten of his brothers and friends all faced a pair of trials for killing a mob member but were acquitted by an all-white jury. Sweet was born on […]
The city of Dayton, Ohio is one of the most racially segregated cities in America, and a race-fueled riot that occurred on this day in 1966 only widened that divide. The senseless killing of a Black business owner and West Side Dayton resident was the tipping point for the riots, and the region has yet […]
The Cosby Show remains one of the most revolutionary television series in history and remains an inspiration for hit Black sitcoms like black-ish and others. The series made its debut on this day in 1984, but is now largely gone from the public eye due to Bill Cosby’s sexual assault allegations. The series aired on […]
Hazel Ingram made headlines last year after working 60-plus years at New York’s Douglas Elliman offices on Madison Avenue \ as a cleaner. Ms. Ingram is back in the news again after she was named as part of New York’s Electoral College body in this year’s presidential election. Ingram, 93, was named an elector earlier this […]
The Desire Projects were a notorious housing development in New Orleans’ 9th Ward, was considered the worst in the state. The projects were the site of a large shootout between Black Panthers and the police that took place on this day in 1970, leading to tensions that remained long after the standoff. Longtime Louisiana activist […]
Dr. Mae C. Jemison made history on this day in 1992 by becoming the first woman of color to travel to space. Dr. Jemison took her lone flight to the stars aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour before moving on to a stellar career in education. Mae Carol Jemison was born October 17, 1956 in Decatur, […]
The Brownsville Affair, also known as the Brownsville Raid, was a racially charged event in Texas that led to the largest dishonorable discharge in U.S. Army history. 167 soldiers were dismissed from their posts, many of whom gave several years of service and missed earning their pensions as a result. On the night of […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lonnie Bunch leans forward to peer inside a slave cabin from Edisto Island, South Carolina. The dark and cramped interior defies his attempts to showcase the small living space its occupants subsisted on. Bunch flips on the flashlight on a borrowed smartphone, illuminating for his guests the craftsmanship, the hard work […]
