As the #BlackLivesMatter movement continues to grow in strength like the perfect storm, the prescient words of Malcolm X (el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz) slice with laser-sharp precision through the rhetoric of politicians and pundits alike as if he still walked among us.
It is 1857 and Kanye, a carpenter, has finally saved up enough money to buy his freedom from Massa West. Trouble is, he has to leave his wife, Kimba, and five children on the plantation until he can buy them out of slavery as well.
Contrary to popular belief, thereâs more to Cinco de Mayo than margaritas and eating foods covered in guacamole. Cinco de Mayo is also not a celebration of Mexicoâs independence; thatâs actually Sept. 16.
After five wonderful, fun years of helping African Americans find their ancestry on The Root, we are looking forward to carrying on the work of the Tracing Your Roots column through an ongoing collaboration with AmericanAncestors.org by the New England Historic Genealogical Society. Our new column will appear on âŚ
Records reveal a proud legacy in Mississippi, yet data shows why we should not be all that surprised.
Sometimes, following the paper trail left by a close relative of the person youâre tracing will yield better results.
Silence shrouded information about a familyâs past, and those who could provide answers are deceased. Fortunately, thereâs a paper trail.
Families intertwine and seemingly pass back and forth over the color line, complicating efforts to trace their origins.
Needing answers after a family was torn asunder by fatal acts of domestic violence.
A white mother and black daughter encounter the genealogical âbrick wallâ so many people face while researching African-American families during slavery.
Family lore about a great-grandparentâs interracial relationship lines up with clues in census records.
A message board posting listing âfreedmenâ kin raises questions.
The debate over Confederate monuments inspires one woman to find the descendants of people her memorialized ancestor enslaved.
Finding Virginia forebears who lived uncertain lives in the shadow of the Nat Turner rebellion.
On June 1, 1921, white rioters looted and burned the all-black Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa, Okla., known as Black Wall Street. Angry at the economic success of blacks in the area (which became known as âBlack Wall Streetâ because of the number of successful businesses and wealthy black inhabitants), white TulsansâŚ
Hereâs how to approach an unrecognized or illegible notation, as well as missing information, in a record.
The reason people love superheroes is that, when done correctly, they are the perfect combination of our wildest fantasies and reality. There is no white guy born on a distant planet who came to Kansas and discovered that he could fly. If you are ever bitten by a bat, you probably want to get a tetanus shot beforeâŚ
Differing surnames and living arrangements complicate the search for the parents of an ancestor born during Reconstruction in North Carolina.
An ancestor identified as black reportedly spoke a language of the Creek people. The familyâs paper trail reflects the complicated history of the American West.
The largest manumission case in U.S. history led to a unique community in Virginia.
