world war ii
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Best Gift Ever: Charlottesville to Celebrate End of Slavery Instead of Thomas Jefferson's Birthday
For the first time since World War II, guess who won’t be getting a birthday party in Charlottesville, Va.? If you guessed Thomas Jefferson—the same guy who once wrote “all men are created equal,” yet somehow owned over 600 of our ancestors—you’d be correct. The Washington Post reports that despite Jefferson’s name being on everything…
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How a Grandmother’s Suitcase Led One Man to a Dutch Cemetery Full of Forgotten WWII ‘Black Liberators’
In a Margraten cemetery in the Netherlands, 172 black World War II soldiers lay buried, their graves tended by a group of Dutch volunteers who are desperately trying to learn more about the heroes they refer to as the “black liberators.” Like many people, David McGhee was unaware of the existence of the black liberators,…
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'Loving: But Make it Nazi?' New WW II-Era Amandla Stenberg Film Has Disturbing Implications
A trailer for a new WW-II era love story featuring Amandla Stenberg has us collectively scratching our heads. Where Hands Touch centers on Stenberg, who plays a mixed-race Afro-German during Nazi Germany. That bit sounds compelling enough, but let’s continue reading the official synopsis of the film (h/t The Playlist), shall we? WHERE HANDS TOUCH…
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Remains of Tuskegee Airman Missing for 73 Years May Have Finally Been Found
The remains of a Tuskegee Airman who went missing in combat more than 70 years ago may have finally been found. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, or DPAA, believes that it may have found the remains of Capt. Lawrence E. Dickson, a fighter pilot who was just 24 when his plane went down. If the…
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Tracing Your Roots: How Were My Ancestors’ Lives in 19th-Century Arkansas?
In a common scenario for African Americans, the paper trail disappears once a reader gets to the 19th century. Dear Professor Gates: I have been working on my family tree for years. I am having difficulties finding information on my paternal great-grandfather. His name was Leon Turner (born in 1901) and he married Birdie Todd…
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Hey, Jeff Sessions: Remember When 6,000 White Americans Went on Strike to Keep 8 Black People From Getting Promoted?
Over the past month, the Trump administration has been rolling out “theme weeks” as if America were one big dysfunctional high school and the homecoming game will fix everything. In July there was Made in America Week to highlight business; American Heroes Week highlighted the military; and to kick off August, the administration launched “White…
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Oldest Member of the Tuskegee Airmen Dies in Fla. at 101
The oldest surviving member of the historic Tuskegee Airmen, Willie N. Rogers, died Friday in his hometown of St. Petersburg, Fla., at the age of 101, the Tampa Bay Times reports. According to the report, Rogers died of complications from a stroke. Rogers was a member of the renowned all-black Tuskegee Airmen, with whom he…
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Former Tuskegee Airman Audley Coulthurst Dies at Age 92
Another former member of the legendary Tuskegee Airmen has died. Audley Coulthurst passed away Thursday at a Veterans Affairs facility in Brooklyn, N.Y., after suffering cardiac arrest, his daughter, Audra Coulthurst, said, the Associated Press reports. He was 92. According to the report, Coulthurst enlisted in the Army in 1942, ultimately becoming one of the…
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Former Tuskegee Airman Roscoe C. Brown Jr. Dies at 94
Roscoe C. Brown Jr., one of the legendary Tuskegee Airmen who flew in World War II, died Saturday at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx, N.Y. He was 94. According to NBC 4 New York, Brown, who held a doctorate in education, became critically ill toward the end of 2015. In May he had a pacemaker…