The Changing Image of the Black in Children’s Literature | The Horn Book, Inc.

By Augusta Baker, The Horn Book, Inc. In the 1920’s and 1930’s, children’s books seemed to foster prejudice by planting false images in the minds of children. Most authors were white, with little knowledge about black life, and yet they wrote as if they were authorities. No wonder it was an accepted fact in children’s […]

View More

Five African Americans named ‘genius’ grant winners by MacArthur Foundation In their own way, each is working toward increasing understanding of black histories and communities | The Undefeated

Kevin Parrish Jr., The Undefeated This Aug. 30 photo shows MacArthur Foundation fellow Emmanuel Pratt, an urban designer with the Sweet Water Foundation in Chicago. Pratt is co-founder and executive director of the foundation, a nonprofit organization based on Chicago’s South Side that engages residents in the cultivation and regeneration of social, environmental and economic […]

View More

It took 10 minutes to convict 14-year-old George Stinney Jr. It took 70 years after his execution to exonerate him. | The Washington Post

By Lindsey Bever, The Washington Post In March 1944, deep in the Jim Crow South, police came for 14-year-old George Stinney Jr. His parents weren’t at home. His little sister was hiding in the family’s chicken coop behind the house in Alcolu, a segregated mill town in South Carolina, while officers handcuffed George and his […]

View More

Documentary to tell story of all-black Army unit that protected Hawaii in WWII | Hawaii News Now

By Jim Mendoza, Hawaii News Now HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – During World War II, the 369th Antiaircraft Artillery Regiment made up entirely of African-American soldiers was stationed in Hawaii. The troops hailed from New York and were known as the Harlem Rattlers. “I think it is a human interest story,” Monmouth University professor Nancy Mezey said. […]

View More

Biography of Gwendolyn Brooks, the People’s Poet | ThoughtCo

Jeffrey Somers, ThoughtCo Gwendolynn Brooks. Bettmann / Getty Images. Featured Image [dropcap]I[/dropcap]n many ways, Gwendolyn Brooks embodies the black American experience of the 20th century. Born into a family that moved to Chicago as part of the Great Migration of blacks to the north of the country, she made her way through school during the […]

View More

After 136 Years, The Met will Finally Host an Opera by a Black Composer | Okayplayer

Zo, Okayplayer Henry Adebonojo. Featured Image [dropcap]T[/dropcap]erence Blanchard‘s heralded opera, Fire Shut Up in My Bones, is set to make its debut at The Metropolitan Opera House in NYC. Though it had plenty to choose from over the last century or so, the production will be the first-ever opera by a black composer to be […]

View More

Ta-Nehisi Coates On Magic, Memory And The Underground Railroad | NPR

Growing up in Maryland, author Ta-Nehisi Coates was enthralled by stories of Harriet Tubman, the 19th century abolitionist who operated the Underground Railroad on the state’s Eastern Shore. He read about Tubman’s efforts to lead enslaved people to freedom, and was struck by the surreal qualities of her story. [mc4wp_form id=”6042″] “It just seemed wild,” […]

View More

Entrepreneur Creates Flashcards That Teach Children About Black Millionaires & Billionaires | Chicago Defender

By Jeffrey Somers, Chicago Defender New Orleans, LA — New Orleans-based media company, Raising Black Millionaires, has just released the first volume in their series of Raising Black Millionaires Flashcards, to empower parents and educators of Black children with an effective and easy tool that builds self-confidence, high self-esteem, and limitless earning potential for all […]

View More