Most people have not heard of PAD. But it's her goal to change that.

Checking in with the former Supreme turned cultural ambassador.

Will the Paris retrospective of Spike Lee's work force the French to deal with their own attitudes on race?

Baseball in October is different from the regular season, and that's why the Cubs may be World Series bound this year.

In this book excerpt, author Annette Gordon-Reed examines Sally Hemings's care of Dr. Robert Sutton who had treated King Louis XV for small pox. Young Hemings undergoes the ordeal of inoculation against the disease for 40 days in isolation on the outskirts of Paris.

From the earliest days of the Republic, interracial relationships in America have never been, could never be, just about love stories.

In this book excerpt, author Annette Gordon-Reed explores the ways that Thomas Jefferson's Virginia estate, Monticello, became both his private sanctuary and embodiment of his conflicted feelings about slavery. Jefferson and his wife Martha inherited the Hemings family, many of whom were related to Martha Wayles Jefferson by blood. Here is a glimpse of their lives at Monticello.

The persistent pattern of voting problems in U.S. elections is eroding our image as the world's model democracy.

In this excerpt from 'The Hemingses of Monticello,' author Annette Gordon-Reed examines the contradictions inherent in the relationship between Hemings and Jefferson families-united by slavery and blood ties. The relationship began at the childhood home of Jefferson's wife Martha Wayles Jefferson, a Williamsburg-area plantation known as the 'The Forest.'  At that estate, the Hemings matriarch Elizabeth bore several children with her owner, John Wayles. Elizabeth's last child, Sally became half-sister, servant and confidante to Martha Wayles Jefferson, as well as mother of several children by Thomas Jefferson.

Is the removal of the South African president a sign of a vibrant democracy or a prelude to crisis?