Black History Through Reconstruction

This year marks 400 years since the arrival of the first African in 1619, as an enslaved person, to what would eventually be called the United States.

A History Of Racist Policing In America, From Slavery To Jim Crow To Now

Outrage over racial profiling and the killing of African Americans by police officers and vigilantes in recent years helped give rise to the Black Lives Matter movement. But tensions between the police and black communities are nothing new.

Ghana: Livelihoods and Culture Under Threat in Ghana's Historic Port of Jamestown

Plans are afoot to replace the historic Ghanaian fishing port of Jamestown with a Chinese-backed mechanised factory. This is a move that will destroy traditional livelihoods, as well as damage the historic built environment.

AfricanAncestry.com to Host Historic Ancestral Reveal at Ghana’s ‘Door of N

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The 1619 anniversary of Africans in the United States is significant but not the whole story

By In 2017, the United States Congress passed the 400 years of African-American History Commission Act which is charged with developing activities throughout the country to commemorate the arrival of Africans in the English colonies in 1619, an event widely regarded as the commencement of the Trans-

Black Historic Sites Top Most Endangered Places List

Black architectural and cultural heritage sites are in grave danger of disappearing or being beyond repair, unless members of the public mobilize to save them, the National Trust for Historic Preservation announced today.

Why the lies my teacher told me about race in America after the Civil War matter in 2019 | Will Bunch

Most Americans don't learn enough about the betrayal of blacks after the Civil War. But it explains a lot about 2019.

The Statue of Liberty was created to celebrate freed slaves, not immigrants, its new museum recounts

The new Statue of Liberty Museum in New York Harbor boasts a number of treasures: the original torch, which was replaced in the 1980s; an unoxidized (read: not green) copper replica of Lady Liberty’s face; and recordings of immigrants describing the sight of the 305-foot monument.

House endorses bill requiring courses on black, Latino history

African-American, Puerto Rican and Latino studies would become part of every school district’s high school curriculum starting in 2021 under a bill passed Wednesday by the House.

Last American slave ship is discovered in Alabama

The schooner Clotilda—the last known ship to bring enslaved Africans to America’s shores—has been discovered in a remote arm of Alabama’s Mobile River following an intensive yearlong search by marine archaeologists.

Undistorting the Civil War

The new American Civil War Museum in Richmond, Va., sits next to the James River in the historic Tredegar district, where slaves and immigrants once produced munitions for the Confederate Army.

The US Confederate flag continues to ignite racial tensions—in Brazil

The aroma of fried chicken and biscuits roused my appetite as the country sounds of Alison Krauss, Alan Jackson, and Johnny Cash played over the loudspeakers. This might have been a county fair back home in Tennessee, but it wasn’t.

The Expense of the American Dream

Professor Gerald Horne shows that the Dark Continent was Europe, not Africa. The Apocalypse of Settler Colonialism: The Roots of Slavery, White Supremacy, and Capitalism in Seventeenth Century North America and the Caribbean by Gerald Horne Monthly Review Press, 2018.

There Is a Scottsboro in Every Country

The “Black Belt” was a vision of a sovereign black nation within the southern United States. When we speak about a future in which all black people in America can be free, it’s hard to picture how, exactly, that freedom might look.

New Book, "Survival of the Fist," Reveals Deep-Rooted History of African Cu

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A Brief History of the Origin of Soul Food

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Historian to Publish Detailed Book on the Quander Family, One of America’s

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A History Of Calls For Reparations For Descendants Of Slaves

It’s a question being asked more frequently of Democrats running for the 2020 presidential nomination. Many have expressed varying degrees of support for reparations, giving the idea the greatest prominence it’s ever had among leading politicians. Is anything different now?

Her ancestors fled to Mexico to escape slavery 170 years ago. She still sings in English to this day.

She is proof of how complicated migration between the United States and Mexico can be: An 86-year-old black woman, sitting in her home in northern Mexico, singing hymns in English.

Sen. Cory Booker Is The First Presidential Candidate To Put Action Behind Reparations

Reparations has been a major talking point for the Democratic candidates for president. But while most of them appear to be for reparations, none has created any action. On Monday, Sen. Cory Booker became the first one.

Should U.S. provide reparations for descendants of slaves?

Bernie Sanders said he'd sign a bill to research reparations for descendants of slaves if elected president

NEW YORK CITY, NY — Sen. Bernie Sanders on Friday told Rev. Al Sharpton he would sign a bill to research reparations for descendants of slaves if elected president, somewhat reversing course on an issue that's emerged as one of the central topics of discussion along the 2020 campaign trail.

Last survivor of US slave ships discovered

The last known survivor of the transatlantic slave ships, brought to the US in 1860, has been identified by an academic at Newcastle University.

How a Movement to Send Freed Slaves to Africa Created Liberia

The biggest question facing the leaders of the United States in the early 19th century was what to do about slavery. Should it continue or should the U.S.

Defaced UNC Monument Was An Attack On Recognition Of Slaves Who Built Nation’s Universities

The defacing of a monument on the University of North Carolina’s campus was not only racist but also disrespectful to the memory of slaves who helped to build universities across the nation.

The World Is Watching: Woman Suing Harvard for Photos of Enslaved Ancestors Says History Is At Stake

Who has the right to own photos of slaves? We speak with Tamara Lanier, the great-great-great-granddaughter of Papa Renty, the enslaved man whose image was captured in a 19th century photograph currently owned by Harvard University.

Why an African American Freemasons group “returned” to one of slave trade’s darkest places

When a group of Prince Hall Masons from North Carolina arrived in Cotonou, Benin last month for the inauguration of a new grand lodge in Cotonou, the cultural significance wasn’t lost on the masons from Benin.

New Study Suggests That America May Be Ready For Reparations To Blacks

If a new survey is accurate, most Americans are receptive to the controversial idea of the federal government granting reparations to African-Americans.

Africa: Okorafor, Kahiu to Work on Movie Based on U.S. Author Octavia Butler's Book

Cape Town — African women are making serious waves in Hollywood, and we are here for it... Award-winning U.S.

‘Loyal Slave’ Monuments Tell a Racist Lie About American History

As America’s racist historical myths go, the loyal black slave is one of the most enduring, destructive, and tightly held.

Archaeologists Find Bound Bodies Of Enslaved Africans In Portuguese Trash Dump

In the early 15th century, Portuguese explorers like Henry the Navigator began sailing to Africa, bringing back both goods and enslaved people.

This Enslaved Woman Sued for Her Freedom and Helped End Slavery in Massachusetts

In 1780, the proclamation “all men are born free and equal,” rang out from the central square in the small town of Sheffield in western Massachusetts. The line

Should black Americans get slavery reparations?

How does a country recover from centuries of slavery and racism? In the US, a growing number of voices are saying the answer is reparations. Reparations are a restitution for slavery - an apology and repayment to black citizens whose ancestors were forced into the slave trade.

Free Renty! Slave’s Descendant Sues Harvard Over Photo Of Her Great-Great-Great Grandfather

An African-American woman sued Harvard University on Wednesday to gain ownership of photographs of her enslaved family members that the school has financially profited from for years.

Court Approves Funding Ban On Planned Parenthood Which Provides Health Services That Benefit Black Women

By a vote of 11 to 6, a federal appeals court upheld an Ohio law on Tuesday that strips Planned Parenthood of government funding for a variety of health services that benefit low-income women. In condemning the ruling, Planned Parenthood pointed to the many health care services it offers.

Schools Keep Trivializing Slavery In A Worrisome Trend

In a trend that displayed mind-blowing racism, several groups of African-American elementary school students were subjected to games that trivialized slavery in their classrooms around Black History Month.

The Aftertaste of Slavery Still Haunts American Cooking

Amid the ongoing controversy over Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and his racist medical-school yearbook hijinx, his wife, Pam Northam, recently plunged into another one.

Kenya and Somalia’s row over offshore rights is rooted in the carve up of Africa

The borderlines separating Kenya and Somalia were first drawn in the late 19th century. Like everywhere else on the continent, this was the work of cartographers working for European colonial powers.

White Women Prospered on the Brutality of the Slave Economy

By 1836, Sarah Barnes had become something of an Alabama magnate. She owned a home, land, rental properties, 10 stocks in a local bank in Mobile, and 27 enslaved people.

School Designated Black Student to Be a Slave in Underground Railroad Class

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Where Does Bernie Sanders Stand On Reparations? Even He Doesn’t Seem To Know

While some have suggested that at least one presidential candidate has a so-called “Black man problem,” it would appear that Bernie Sanders, another White House hopeful, hasn’t seemed to solve his own apparent problem when it comes to American descendants of slavery.

Warren, Harris back reparations for black Americans affected by slavery

Democratic Sens. Kamala Harris (Calif.) and Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), who are both running for president, have reportedly said they support reparations for black Americans affected by slavery.

New Textbook Makes Black History Relevant 365 Days Of The Year

It always seems like Black History Month is over before you know it. For just 28 days out of the year, the country is exposed to the rich history of Black folks beyond the two chapters they were taught in grade school: slavery and civil rights.

Lyft Offers Free Rides To Black-Owned Businesses, Cultural Institutions For Black History Month

Lyft is big on philanthropy. In the past, the company has teamed up to support several social good initiatives, including Chance the Rapper’s effort to better Chicago Public Schools and making it easier for Americans to get to polling places by offering free and discounted rides on Election Day.

National Trust For Historic Preservation Launches #TellTheFullHistory Campaign For Black History Month

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has been at the forefront of trying to protect landmarks across the country that are embedded in the fabric of Black history and are integral parts of American history as a whole.

1619: 400 years ago, a ship arrived in Virginia, bearing human cargo

After having been kidnapped from their villages in what is present-day Angola, forced onto a Portuguese slave ship bound for what Europeans called the New World and stolen from that ship by English pirates in a confrontation off the coast of Mexico, “some 20.

Did Black Rebellion Win the Civil War?

United States history textbooks have long portrayed the Civil War as a clash between two armies of white soldiers, with the black enslaved people playing a passive role at the center of the drama. Political scientist Errol A.

Look at All These Monuments From Around the World That Honor Those Who Fought Against Slavery

When Haiti unveiled Le Negré Marron statue in 1967, it became a symbol for freedom of black people across the world. The sculpture is a reminder of the rebellion against the French that set the Haitians free.

Liberia: What a Constitutional Clause Reveals About Liberians' Ideas of Citizenship

In 1973 Liberia introduced its Aliens and Nationality Law. This, and the country's 1986 Constitution, allow only people of "Negro descent" - those who are black - to obtain Liberian citizenship by birth, ancestry or naturalisation. The 1973 law also banned dual citizenship.

From Slave to Millionaire Philanthropist: The Biddy Mason Story

On Aug. 15, 1818, a baby girl named Bridget was born into slavery in Georgia. She was sold as an infant to new masters who called her Biddy. When Biddy turned 18, she was presented as a wedding gift to Robert Marion Smith and his wife Rebecca in Mississippi.

The 19th century Kingdom of Hayti was the Wakanda of the Western hemisphere

Marvel’s blockbuster “Black Panther,” which recently became the first superhero drama to be nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award, takes place in the secret African Kingdom of Wakanda.

Dakar’s Museum of Black Civilizations is a vital step for a people reclaiming their history

By in Dakar SenegalThe recent release of the groundbreaking study by Senegalese economist Felwine Sarr and French historian Bénédicte Savoy calling for the restitution of Africa’s looted assets has sparked debates from the art historians of Paris and London to the museums and cultural centers o

MLK Day Special: Rediscovered 1965 King Speech on Civil Rights, Segregation & Apartheid South Africa

AMY GOODMAN: Today is the federal holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was born 90 years ago this month, on January 15th, 1929. He was assassinated April 4th, 1968, at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. King was just 39 years old.

'There were black Confederates too': Bargaining with US history

In 2015, 21-year-old white supremacist Dylann Roof killed nine African Americans in a church in Charleston, South Carolina. Photos of Roof draped in the Confederate flag littered a now-defunct white supremacist website.

A Reminder That Two Southern States Still Celebrate Robert E. Lee’s Birthday on MLK Day

On Monday, when the rest of the country is taking the day off in commemoration of one of America’s civil rights heroes, the denizens of two states will get a remarkable choice: You can celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Black Agency Launches #400YearChallenge With 60-Second Animation That Honor

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"Black History Now 2019 - Celebrating Today’s Change Makers" Presented by t

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15 Black History Museums to Visit During Black History Month

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Black Chronicle Book Re-Issued For Historic 400 Year Celebration

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Museum Of Black Civilizations In African Wants Europe To Return Stolen Artworks

A new museum in Africa that displays artworks from across the African Diaspora opened earlier this month, but it’s missing important pieces that Europe plundered during the colonial era.

These Workshops Aim to Heal Haitian-Dominican Divides With Lessons on Their Shared History

It was a rainy Friday evening in November, but First Spanish United Methodist Church, commonly known as “the people’s church,” in East Harlem was filled with Afro-descendants, a majority with roots planted on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.

How Native Americans adopted slavery from white settlers

Last week marked the 153rd anniversary of the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution in 1865.

Born a slave, Lunsford Lane bought his freedom. Now North Carolina is honoring him.

As a young slave, Lunsford Lane glimpsed a path to freedom when he sold a basket of peaches and collected 30 cents — the first money he’d ever touched. Not long after that, he won a few marbles and sold those, too, adding 60 cents to his pile.

Southern Baptist report on slavery ties includes no reflection on racial equality today

"They did a very good job reckoning with the past, and a not-so-good job reckoning with the present,” a professor of history said.

A Former Plantation Begins To Tell A Fuller Story Of Slavery In America

Just outside Charlottesville, Va., the roads lose their markings as they wind through the woods, passing an occasional church, a cemetery and a plantation known as Highland, owned by America's fifth president James Monroe.

The Confederacy was built on slavery. How can so many Southern whites still believe otherwise?

In July, a 62-year-old white man named Frank Earnest, one of the country's most ardent defenders of Confederate monuments, traveled 200 miles from his Virginia home to Washington, D.C., and got in line at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Reparations for slavery are not about punishing children for parents’ sins

Justice requires a good memory, one that is both accurate and not self-servingly selective. But whether it is well-served by a long memory is more contentious. We know that many still pay the price for sins previous generations never paid for.

Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart 60 years on and the power of Africa’s universal English

“One of the most infuriating habits of these people was their love of superfluous words,” thinks the colonial district commissioner to himself in the final chapter of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.

Common Brings Zora Neale Hurston's 'Barracoon' to TV

He will adapt the long-unreleased book, about the last known enslaved person to survive the Middle Passage, into a limited series.

What a Danish slave trade castle in Accra revealed about Ghana’s history and my family

As a Ghanaian archaeologist, I have been conducting research at Christiansborg Castle in Accra, Ghana. A UNESCO World Heritage site, the castle is a former seventeenth century trading post, colonial Danish and British seat of government, and Office of the President of the Republic of Ghana.

The incredible quest to find the African slave ships that sank in the Atlantic

OFF THE COAST OF DAKAR, SENEGAL — The archaeologist rose in the bow of the speedboat, pointing to the choppy waters where the 18th-century slave ship had gone down.

Giving Tuesday: Contrary To Popular Belief, Black Folks Have Been Philanthropists ‘Since The Beginning Of Time’

African-Americans — despite finding themselves at the bottom rung of the nation’s economic ladder — are collectively among the top ranks of financial contributors to charitable causes.

Ghana: Slavers in the Family - What a Castle in Accra Reveals About Ghana's History

When Scotland hosted an abolitionist after profiting from slavery

Glasgow, Scotland - When abolitionist Frederick Douglass arrived in Scotland on a speaking tour in 1846 from the United States, 13 years had passed since Britain enacted the Slavery Abolition Act.

How Ghana made itself the African home for a return of the black diaspora

In a recently released music video, Fuse ODG and Damian Marley (Bob Marley’s youngest son) explore the themes of slavery, colonialism, black pride and modern day police brutality.

A trove of ancient cat mummies have been found in a 6,000-year old Egyptian tomb

Egypt’s latest archaeological find is a nod to the special attention ancient Egyptians paid to cats. The country’s ministry of antiquities says dozens of cat mummies and around 100 wooden, gilded cat statues were unearthed in recently discovered 6,000-year old Pharonic Age tombs.

First Wrecked Slave Ship Discovery Yields Brutal Details

The small, 340-ton São José-Paquete de Africa set out from Mozambique in December 1794. Even though the ship was no more than no more than 130 feet long (and

Colorado Votes To Abolish Slavery, 2 Years After Similar Amendment Failed

Colorado voters have approved an amendment to their state's constitution that completely abolishes slavery — by stripping out language that still exists in the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which bans slavery and servitude "except as a punishment."

Slavery can no longer be used as punishment for a crime in Colorado after Amendment A passes

Voters have decided to remove the slavery exception from the Colorado Constitution with the passage of Amendment A. That means slavery and involuntary servitude can no longer be used as possible punishments for crimes in the state. The approval comes two years after a similar measure failed.

Trump’s Racist Ad Aims For The Willie Horton Effect, Explained

History was repeating itself with the release of President Donald Trump’s new dog-whistling political ad days before the crucial Midterm elections. It was reminiscent of the Republicans’ infamous Willie Horton spot that exploited white fear of Black men ahead of the 1988 presidential election.

AirBnB Is Tired Of Being Called Racist, So Here’s How They’re Trying To Win Black Folks

Airbnb has come up with a new policy change that it hopes will help the company win over users of color after months of racist complaints. RELATED: Can The NAACP Help Airbnb Hosts Become Less Racist?

A Moral Debt: The Legacy of Slavery in the USA

Journalist James Gannon has inherited a controversial family legacy - that of a clear descendancy from General Robert E Lee, who led the Confederate Army against the Union during the American Civil war in the mid-19th century.