By Faith Karimi On February 25, 1964, four African American icons met in a Miami hotel room for a night of revelry, bonding, arguments and ice cream. One of them, the brash and flamboyant Cassius Clay (soon to change his name to
First celebrated in 1979, Black August was created to commemorate famed Panther George Jackson’s fight for Black liberation. For Jonathan Peter Jackson, a direct relative of two prominent members of the Black Panther Party, revolutionary thought and family history have always been intertwined, particularly in August. That’s the month in 1971 when his uncle, the famed
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By Fred Frommer As Jackie Robinson prepared to take the field as the first Black player in modern baseball history on Opening Day 75 years ago this Friday, an Associated Press reporter asked if he had any butterflies in his stomach. “Not a one,” Robinson replied, with a grin. “I wish I could say I
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By Bria Bolden 54 years after his assassination, Memphis clergy and community members plan to honor the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Today, the anniversary of his death, the community is coming together to honor his life and legacy. 54 years ago today Dr. King traveled to Memphis in support of sanitation workers, and
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By Krishna Mann In the US, the stories of a select few Black women — Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Ida B. Wells, to name a few — seem to circulate on a regular rotation in school classrooms, inspirational calendars and social media memes. While these women’s contributions to history are incredibly important, there are countless other Black
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By Ian Abbey, Ph.D. I spent a year teaching mostly dual-credit and early college United States history classes in a rural district in northeastern Texas. It was a good year; my supervisors and colleagues, along with the vast majority of my students, were wonderful to work with. When we covered the Civil Rights Movement, I
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By Marie Schulte- Bockum Since the first Olympic Games debuted in Athens, Greece in 1896, the gathering of the world’s dominant athletes has become a global event. But with historic discrimination and fewer opportunities for elite training, Black athletes faced immense challenges to compete. Nonetheless, starting in the early 20th century, African American athletes began competing in the
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Courtesy of Prairie View A&M University February in the United States has been known since 1976 as Black History Month. This month-long annual celebration of the descendants of enslaved Africans has been exalted as a necessary spotlight on the experiences and contributions of Black Americans to the United States. It has also been lambasted as
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By Janice Sage Each year on the third Monday of January we observe Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and reflect on the work that still needs to be done for racial equality. This January 17, make the holiday more than just a day off and take time to reflect and take action on civil rights
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By Eliott C. McLaughlin, It was 230 years ago Sunday that Robert Carter III, the patriarch of one of the wealthiest families in Virginia, quietly walked into a Northumberland County courthouse and delivered an airtight legal document announcing his intention to free, or manumit, more than 500 slaves. He titled it the “deed of gift.” It was,
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By Scottie Andrew The “Harlem Hellfighters” helped the US win World War I. The Black infantry unit was one of the most decorated regiments at the time, even as most of its members were met with racism and disregard upon their return home. Now, more than 100 years after the regiment’s surviving members came home
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