black history
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10 Reasons I’m Glad I Was Raised in a Black Household
How you were raised largely dictates how you will turn out as an adult. I have zero science to back this up; nor do I have a link to a white paper from the Atlanta Conference of Negro Problems’ (that was a real thing, by the way) early writings that proves this axiom dating back…
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Ankara, Ankhs and the Ongoing Appropriation-vs.-Appreciation Argument: Is There a Right Way to Rock African Style?
We’ve been celebrating Kwanzaa Week here at The Root, which, for The Glow Up, also meant thinking up new outfits to wear for each night of the festivities celebrating the seven principles of what many lovingly call “Black Hanukkah.” Fun fact: I love African fashion, iconography and decor; always have. I love wax prints (yes,…
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Will Mississippi’s New Civil Rights Museum Tell the Truth About the State’s Troublesome Past?
Myrlie Evers-Williams once had a hard time understanding how her husband could still love their home state of Mississippi so deeply. After all, Medgar Evers grew up in the segregated South and, like many African Americans, left America to fight in Europe during World War II, only to return to a state where black veterans…
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10 Great Reasons to Buy Rachel Dolezal’s 2018 Calendar That’s a Real Thing
I think we need to just prepare ourselves for the fact that Rachel Dolezal is really about to be out here as the gift that keeps on giving. We questioned her quest for blackness. What did she do? She doubled and tripled down on it. She went so far as to change her name to…
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North Carolina Names Highway for Groundbreaking Black Historian and Civil Rights Advocate
A stretch of Interstate 85 in Durham, N.C., has been named for the trailblazing black historian John H. Franklin, who directly confronted America’s racist history and helped shaped the discourse around America’s legacy of slavery. The stretch of road was dedicated to the influential scholar Monday afternoon at the Hayti Heritage Center. As the Raleigh…
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The Great Migration: National Museum of African American History and Culture Offers to Digitize Black Family Home Movies for Free
The National Museum of African American History and Culture has launched a new initiative aimed at helping black families preserve their history and analog audiovisual media with a unique digitization service, and it’s completely free! The Great Migration Home Movie Project invites people to schedule an appointment with the museum’s audiovisual conservation team and have…
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Philadelphia Will Pay Tribute to Forgotten Black American Hero With New Monument
On Tuesday, the city of Philadelphia will resurrect the memory of one of its most influential citizens, Octavius Catto, a civil rights activist whose work was instrumental in getting black men the right to vote in 1870, and who helped desegregate the city’s transportation system. Catto’s story has been erased from history books—a story itself…
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Democrats in Mich. House of Representatives Push to Make African-American History Required Learning After Charlottesville, Va.
Following the violence of the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., Democrats in the Michigan House of Representatives are stepping up to the plate, pushing for legislation that would require African-American history to be taught in all public schools as a means to combat racism. “We all have to do a better job of getting…
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Va. Student Becomes 1st African-American Boy to Earn Valedictorian in School’s History
Jahlil Nickens, 18, who earned the honor of becoming his class valedictorian this spring, also made history as the first African-American boy to earn that honor in Lancaster High School’s history “From the time that Jahlil was little, we could tell that he was special. He has always excelled in his studies,” his mother, Tekecia…
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Tracing Your Roots: How Did My Ancestor Escape Slavery?
In revisiting the story of black refugees to Trinidad, we came across the tale of a foiled slave rebellion in Maryland. Dear Professor Gates: I am a Trinidadian who has been searching for information on my ancestor Henry Ransom, a black Colonial Marine who joined with the British in 1814 and was resettled in 5th…