Matthew Henson is believed to be the first African-American explorer and is credited alongside Robert Edwin Peary as one of the first two men to reach the North Pole. Henson’s contributions to Peary’s expeditions went largely unnoticed up until his death in 1955, but history reveals that he was an invaluable assistant and explorer. Henson […]
From Tommie and John’s Black Power salute to Gabby Douglas becoming the first African American to win an individual gymnastics title, here are some of the most memorable moments for African Americans in the Olympics.
From Tommie and John’s Black Power salute to Gabby Douglas becoming the first African American to win an individual gymnastics title, here are some of the most memorable moments for African Americans in the Olympics.
While many know the incredible story of Henry ‘Box’ Brown who escaped slavery by shipping himself from Virginia to Pennsylvania, Lear Green’s story has been somewhat lost to history. Greer was an enslaved woman who made a daring escape in order to marry the man of her choice and bear free children. Green was able to […]
The Red Summer of 1919 refers to a series of race riots that took place in dozens of cities across the United States. On this day that year, Washington, D.C. endured an ugly race riot that left dozens dead and several more injured. As World War I was becoming a memory, many former military men, […]
Today marks Youth Day across South Africa, which is meant to observe the start of the Soweto Uprising. Hector Pieterson, a youth shot and killed during the protests in 1976, was the centerpiece of one of the uprising’s most iconic images and helped to rally the world against the country’s racist Apartheid rule. The uprising […]
Rev. David E. Gay Jr., the pastor of Beulah Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa, Ala., was the a social and mental health worker prior to his life in ministry. In 2000, he became the first Black director of Bryce Hospital, the largest psychiatric facility in the state. Rev. Gay’s journey began after graduating Druid High School […]
Samuel Sharpe was a Jamaican preacher who led a 10-day slave revolt on the island nation that moved the British Empire to end slavery in 1833. The so-called “Baptist War” because of the denomination of many involved, or the “Christmas Rebellion of 1831,” left over several hundred slaves dead. Sharpe was born around 1801, according […]
When the thousands of people heading to Washington, D.C. this fall to visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture, some might not…
Dr. Homer E. Harris Jr. made history twice – as the first Black football captain of his high school team in Seattle, Washington, and later…
