Archives
Explore the stories we've published in the series over the years. Browse by year and theme, follow a tag, or search the whole collection.
71 posts · 2 years
- 2026Sep 6
Jerome “Big Duck” Smith
The Freedom Rider who made Robert Kennedy listen — then spent 58 years teaching New Orleans children the history he survived.
Negro History Week
Our final newsletter of the series (😭) takes us back to where we began.
African Burial Ground
Before the skyline, before Wall Street, enslaved Africans built New York City — and are buried beneath it.
Freedom's Eve
How enslaved and freed Black Americans marked the final hours before the Emancipation Proclamation took effect.
TDOR
The grief of losing two Black trans women in the Boston community sparked a global, annual observance.
Memorial Day
Three years before its official start, 10,000 people in Charleston, South Carolina gathered to honor fallen Union soldiers.
Bruce's Beach
In 1912, Willa and Charles Bruce built not jus a beach resort, but a refuge. This is the story of how it was stolen and reclaimed.
Maggie Lena Walker, the First Black Woman to Charter a U.S. Bank
Learn how Maggie L. Walker became the first Black woman to found and lead a bank in the United States.
Spades
From living rooms to championship tournaments, learn how Spades became a cornerstone of Black culture.
Black Poetry Day
Learn about Jupiter Hammon, the poet born in 1711 whose birthday inspired a national celebration of Black voices in literature.
Juneteenth
How Miss Opal Lee's persistence turned June 19th into an annual observance of freedom.
George Washington Carver Day
On January 5, we honor George Washington Carver, who dedicated his life to Black farmers.
Black Masking Indians
The story behind the Black Masking Indians and how exclusion turned into celebration.
Marjorie Stewart Joyner
How Marjorie Stewart Joyner helped scale Madame C.J. Walker's companies and committed herself to racial equity.
Harriet Tubman Day
Why March 10 commemorates a pillar of the Underground Railroad and the first woman to lead a military raid in American history.
Mary McLeod Bethune and Her Monument in Lincoln Park
Hear her story of faith, determination, and unwavering commitment to education and equality.
Bud Billiken Parade
Explore the history of the Bud Billiken Parade and the Black-owned newspaper that stewarded it.
Homecoming
Learn about the start of HBCUs and their dedication to Black history and future.
Schomburg Center
In honor of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
Black August
The events that led to this commemoration of radical Black activism.
Rosa Parks Day
Let's explore the impact of Rosa Parks' resistance and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Lift Every Voice and Sing
Why "Lift Every Voice and Sing” spread organically through classrooms to become a cultural institution.
Crispus Attucks Day
Learn about Crispus Attucks and his bravery on one cold night in March.
Loving Day
How Loving Day was born from a Supreme Court case and became a contemporary observance of mixed-race partnership.
Haiti Independence Day
And learn about the impact of the Haitian Revolution.
Fred Hampton Aquatic Center
And learn about the history of racial segregation in public pools.
Jackie Robinson Day
And how one baseball game on April 15, 1947 forever changed history.
Black Music Month
This annual observance honors Black culture’s contribution to music and rallies for the support, funding and visbility Black artist deserve.
Jerry Rescue
The Jerry Rescue honors the abolitionist resistance and reminds us how to stand against injustice.
Glenn Burke
How Glenn Burke challenged homophobia in sports during his formidable career.
Pura Belpré
How the first Puerto Rican librarian at the New York Public Library advocated for Spanish-speaking readers and culturally relevant narratives.
Ma Collier
Margaret "Ma" Collier became the first Black woman to serve as a military service club hostess and revolutionized entertainment for segregated troops.
Douglass Fourth
Reviewing Frederick Douglass' historic speech and its relevance 173 years later.
Stormé DeLarverie
She sparked the Stonewall Riots and was committed to protecting her community.
Opal Lee
How the "Grandmother of Juneteenth" changed history by demanding recognition for its past.
Henry Box Brown
Read about his daring escape act and career as a magician.
Coretta Scott King
Let's explore the roles that King played to leave a lasting legacy.
Jamaica Kincaid
This Antiguan American author and professor writes about colonialism, displacement and finding home.
Emma Chambers Maitland
Learn how she defied barriers to excel in sports, arts and entertainment.
- 2025Apr 13
How Trump is attacking Black history.
How the Trump administration is trying to erase Black history – and future.
Marian Anderson
Her powerful contralto voice defined a movement that transformed performance venues and accelerated civil rights reform.
Florynce “Flo” Kennedy
This feminist lawyer combined legal brilliance with theatrical activism to challenge racism to connect civil rights with the women's movement.
Dorothy Lee Bolden
Bolden transformed domestic work from servitude to profession, creating a groundbreaking union that secured higher wages and dignity for workers.
Addie L. Wyatt
This UPWA member became the first Black woman to lead major unions, founded CBTU and CLUW, and secured equal pay provisions years before federal law.
The Black Civilian Conservation Corps
Honoring the laborers who built America's parks during the Depression, despite facing segregation and exclusion.
Chris Smalls
This modern day labor organizer made history when he led workers in Staten Island to vote to form the country's first Amazon union.
Moranda Smith
This labor organizer united tobacco workers across racial lines and connected workplace rights to broader civil rights struggles.
Lucy Parsons
Known as the “Goddess of Anarchy,” Parsons was a militant writer, orator, and agitator uncompromising in her radical views.
Hattie Canty
One of the greatest strike leaders in history, Canty transformed the Las Vegas workforce and set a new precedent for unions across the U.S.
Shelton Tappes
This pioneering Black labor organizer drafted the first anti-discrimination clause in a major auto union contract.
Donald Galloway
Galloway fought for disability rights and labor rights by challenging discriminatory lawsuits and influencing politics.
Robert Lee Vann
Vann transformed the Pittsburgh Courier into a powerful voice for Black labor rights and helped drive the integration of steel industry unions.
Philip Anthony Payton Jr
Known as the “father of Harlem,” Payton’s real estate savviness created equitable housing opportunities for Black communities.
E.D. Nixon
This union organizer and civil rights pioneer bailed out Rosa Parks and helped launch the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Curt Flood
Flood sacrificed his baseball career to fight for free agency, transforming sport's labor history.
Fannie Lou Hamer
While known mainly for her civil rights activism, Hamer was also a labor organizer who fought for agricultural workers' rights.
Mary McLeod Bethune, Educator and Presidential Advisor
Civil rights activist. Educator. Presidential advisor. Nothing was too audacious for Mary McLeod Bethune.
Ernest Calloway
As a labor journalist and organizer, Calloway worked with the Teamsters to integrate trucking unions in the Midwest and documented labor struggles.
Charles S. Hayes
As the Vice President of the United Packinghouse Workers of America, Hayes organized Black meatpacking workers and fought for racial integration.
Marvel Cooke
This pioneering journalist and labor activist who exposed the exploitation of domestic workers and broke barriers in mainstream journalism.
Benjamin Fletcher
One of the most prominent Black members of the Industrial Workers of the World, Fletcher organized Philadelphia dock workers and made history.
Velma Hopkins
Hopkins, a tobacco worker, helped lead one of the most significant labor actions in Southern history.
Stephanie St. Clair
Known as "Madame Queen," St. Clair built an independent Black-owned business empire in Harlem during the 1920s and 1930s.
Bayard Rustin
The brilliant strategist who organized many effective civil rights movements while facing discrimination for both his race and his sexuality.
Rosina Tucker
Tucker organized the wives and families of Pullman porters, creating support networks that sustained one of the most important Black labor unions.
Brad Lomax
Lomax brought together the Black Panthers' commitment to community empowerment with the disability rights movement's fight for accessibility.
Maggie Lena Walker and the Power of Cooperative Economics
Walker revolutionized Black economic empowerment through banking, mutual aid societies, and worker cooperatives.
William Lucy
Lucy was a powerful force for both labor and civil rights, especially through his role in the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers' Strike.
Isaac Myers
A labor pioneer who built one of America's first Black-led trade unions in the face of white supremacy.
A. Philip Randolph
From railroad cars to the March on Washington: the visionary who united labor rights and civil rights to transform America.