As I’ve run around the country giving Black History Month speeches, I’ve been thinking a great deal about where we are and where we are going as a community; I’ve also been asked about President Barack Obama’s role in Black history. Since the 44th president’s existence has been entirely complex and phenomenal — all at […]

A letter from a former slave, Jourdan Anderson to the man who owned him, Colonel P.H. Anderson in 1865 has drawn a lot of attention  was posted on several sites and even became the top story at Yahoo News. In the letter Jourdan Anderson offers a smart retort to P.H. Anderson’s request that he come […]

Men tend to get all of the credit for everything, especially the Civil Rights Movement. While Dr. Martin L. King Jr. and Malcolm X are known as the faces of the movement, black history is brimming with women whose contributions are equally noteworthy. Here’s our list of black women who helped to advance the race […]

The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African-American History and Culture recently received a $5 million donation from Walmart bringing the museum a step closer to being completed. Construction for the museum is scheduled to begin next year and a planned grand opening is set for 2015. See also: Black New York: Historic Photos From the Museum of […]

Howard University is taking individuals on a ride through the pages of American Legacy Magazine. The quarterly, which chronicles African-American history, will unveil an 18-wheel mobile museum of Black history. The exhibition is across from the Howard University bookstore and features photos, stories, artifacts, memorabilia and interactive learning stations that celebrate the story of Blacks […]

NEW YORK-Professors from New York colleges including NYU, Barnard and Columbia as well as their archaeology students have uncovered a lost Black village under Central Park in New York City. BET.com reports: At its height, Seneca Village was a robust community of nearly 300 people that existed between between the 1820s and 1850s. Though it […]

While stories of black soldiers in WWII are normally an afterthought, one story of black heroism is finally being told. The Aubrey Stewart Project tells the story of James Aubrey Stewart, a soldier from Piedmont, West Virginia, who along with 10 other black soliders sacrificed their lives to save a family during the Battle of […]

Alabama — Last summer, African-American man Worcy Crawford passed away at the age of 92. If you are unfamiliar with the name, you aren’t the only one. With his passing, a civil rights story of epic proportions went untold. When people think of buses and the civil rights era, they think of Rosa Parks. But […]

As a noted surgeon and scientist, Charles Drew was responsible for creating the technology to store blood for long periods of time. His lifelong concern for the necessary transport and storage of blood and plasma made him a pioneer in his field and a valued scientist in world history. Drew saved thousands of soldiers’ lives […]

If there is one person from history whose impact on the Black woman’s self-image rivals that of Oprah Winfrey, it is the hair mogul Madame C.J. Walker. Walker was the first successful Black female entrepreneur. Her insistence on involvement in both the business world and civic affairs predates Oprah’s story, and to the extent that […]