Breaking News! History in the Making

GettyImages-2223576173

This Is What They’re Polluting a Black Neighborhood in Memphis For

No one living in Boxtown agreed to have higher rates of cancer and other health risk.

members of RISE St. James pray over the graves of what are believed to be formerly enslaved Black people buried on the site of the former Buena Vista plantation

Lawsuit claims slavery persists at former St. James plantation with unmarked graves

The unusual argument is one group’s attempt prevent a company from bulding a factory on the burial site of enslaved people.

The 220-year-old advert for the ship Metis, which states that it 'will carry by the present act, about 185 slaves'.

Liverpool black history researchers discover slaver ship advert from 1805

The ad casally describes a ship’s role in the slave trade, showing how people felt about slavery at the time.

14 March  2024  - Charlotte , NC - Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su and with Rep. Alma Adams Equal Pay Day Event at he Built This City Charlotte.
***Official Department of Labor Photograph***
Photographs taken by the federal government are generally part of the public domain and may be used, copied and distributed without permission. Unless otherwise noted, photos posted here may be used without the prior permission of the U.S. Department of Labor. Such materials, however, may not be used in a manner that imply any official affiliation with or endorsement of your company, website or publication.
 
Photo Credit: Department of Labor
Shawn T Moore

Black Women Earn a Lot Less Than White Males: Study

Black women earn 64 cents for every dollar earned by white men, highlighting the persistent pay gap and the need for investment in care, good jobs, paid leave, affordable housing, and reproductive rights.

UCLA campus in westwood on Nov. 18, 2023.

Bill to provide descendants of slavery preference in college admissions moves forward

While some call the proposed bill a form of race-baiting, proponents recognize how descendants of enslaved people can benefit from it.

Bayard Rustin in 1963. (AP file)

Bayard Rustin’s Legacy Will No Longer Be Erased

An archive is working to preserve and educate about the legacy of the queer civil rights activist and leader.

Jermaine Thomas

He was born to a US citizen soldier on an army base in Germany. Now he’s been deported to Jamaica, a country he’d never been to

Jermaine’s father, a naturalized citizen, passed before he could correct documents that mistakenly say his son is Jamaican.

Black kids ages 10-14 are more likely to drown in public pools at rates 7.6 times higher than white children, according to CDC data. (Steward Masweneng/Unsplas)

Black Kids Are 2x More Likely To Drown. This Organization is Offering Free Swim Lessons. 

Outdoor Afro aims to help Black children become strong swimmers so they can safely get a break from the summer heat.

“Dorothy_West” (Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America,)

Oak Bluffs: The Legacy of Black Martha’s Vineyard and Black Artists

While many people think of Martha’s Vineyard as white, one neighborhood has been the refuge of the Black community, especially artists.

Essence Fest typically draws almost half a million visitors to New Orleans each year, but some local residents say the event's economic impact doesn't trickle down to the wider Black community. (Adam Mahoney/Capital B)

In New Orleans, Essence Fest Is a Celebration — but Not Always for Black Locals

Although the event celebrates Black culture, New Orleans’ Black residents do not necessary reap the rewards of their city hosting it.

Reginald Betts reading from his book, Felon Poems (
New America, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Inside prison walls, here’s how a book program is changing lives

Reginald Betts, who discovered how hard it was to find books in prison, helped spearhead this project to provide prisoners with books.

Stone Mountain Georgia

Confederacy group sues Georgia park for planning an exhibit on slavery and segregation

The state park, which has the largest Confederate statue, plans an educational exhibit about white supremacy and its connection to slavery.

640px-Strassenfest_in_der_Dreimuehlenstrasse_in_Muenchen_03

Can College Prep Programs Survive Trump’s War on DEI?

The Education Department has warned colleges that they will lose funding for any admissions programs that “favor one race over another.” The Trump administration has gone after several prestigious colleges for promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.

The interactive exhibition will be in Derry for another month before moving to Strabane, Coleraine, Dungiven and then Belfast

Ireland’s ‘untold black history’ focus of exhibition

A new exhibit reveals the often untold Black heritage of Northern Ireland throughout time, from Vikings to World War II.

A plaque condemning slave traders is attached to a statue of John Cass

Plaques on slave trader statues reveal wrongdoings

Revealing The City’s Past is a community-led project that helps visitors to London reinterpret statues of historic figures who owned slaves.

IMG_1811-1-scaled

‘The Ancestors Were Speaking’: My Pilgrimage to Ghana

As a point of origin in the transatlantic slave trade, Ghana has preserved forts and dungeons where countless enslaved people were bought and sold ahead of the harrowing Middle Passage.

The Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation met with The Church of England in September, 2024 to discuss the legacy of transatlantic slavery. (Fr. Tim Kesicki second to the right, and Monique Trusclair Maddox on the right.( The Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation(

Amid attacks on DEI, a US nonprofit offers reparations, education and healing: ‘We’re looking to fill the gap’

Thanks to support from donors, one Louisiana organization can help some descendants of enslaved people while other support is stripped.

Joshua Liston-Zawadi (middle) stands with his wife, Symphony Swan-Zawadi (back left), and their children, Kingston Swan (front left), Kahlani Sadm (front middle), Harlem Zawadi (back middle) and Marli Swan (far right) during the Dad Doula University open house inside the Sherman Phoenix Marketplace. (Photo provided by Joshua Liston-Zawadi)

How one father developed a doula program for dads

Joshua Liston-Zawad, who sought a way to be more involved when his wife gave birth, started a program to help other dads to the same.

Planned_Parenthood.svg

PPFA Patient: Women’s Health Care Hangs in the Balance

As Congress considers the president’s budget bill, millions fear life without access to health care.

The Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition is fighting to preserve a burial ground for enslaved people (Gail Rebhan)

‘A dog cemetery would not be treated like this’: the fight to preserve Black burial grounds in the US

The Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition has been fighting to preserve local cemeteries from new developments for nearly a decade.

Cedric Sturdevant founded a grassroots organization, Community Health PIER, to reduce health disparities in the Mississippi Delta. (Amy Maxmen/KFF Health News)

Inside HIV Activists’ Plan To Save Lives as Trump Guts Federal Funding

Cedric Sturdevant founded Community Health PIER to reduce health disparities in the Mississippi Delta in the wake of HIV funding cuts.