Black History - KOLUMN Magazine

8 black composers who changed the course of classical music history | Classic FM

February 2, 2020February 2, 2020Black History

From Scott Joplin to Florence Price, the music of these brilliant composers has too long been neglected in Western classical music tradition. [mc4wp_form id=”6042″] We’re celebrating the most famous and influential black composers in classical music history. Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745 – 1799) Dubbed ‘le Mozart noir’ (‘Black Mozart’), the Chevalier de Saint-Georges […]

A look at the Casual Killing Act of 1669 that made it legal to kill a slave at will | Face2Face Africa

February 2, 2020February 2, 2020Slavery

What escapes many people is that the whimsical killing of enslaved Blacks in the U.S. during slavery, and even after by white folks without punitive consequence is based on laws passed by white politicians, who happened to be plantation owners as well. [mc4wp_form id=”6042″] One such devious law is the Casual Killing Act of 1669 […]

Louis Allen Murdered in Liberty, Mississippi | EJI

January 31, 2020January 31, 2020African American History, Black History

On January 31, 1964, the night before he was set to move to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Louis Allen was ambushed outside his property in Liberty, Mississippi and shot twice in the face with a shotgun. [mc4wp_form id=”6042″] He died almost instantly. Mr. Allen was the victim of racially motivated violence in a system where he was […]

Former Calif. Mayor Johnson shares Black Capital initiative at the Met | The Black Wall Street Times

January 31, 2020January 31, 2020African American Economics

TULSA, Okla. — The former Mayor of Sacramento, California, Kevin Johnson, in partnership with SeedInvest, launched their Black Capital initiative, a collective mission to economically empower African Americans through access to the venture capital industry. [mc4wp_form id=”6042″] Their first visit, since the initial launch, was Tulsa, Oklahoma — once a black entrepreneurial hub in the […]

What Was the Black International? | JSTOR

January 31, 2020January 31, 2020African American Economics

The twentieth-century struggle for African independence began in Paris salons hosted by the daughters of elite blacks, then travelled by telegram and steamship. [mc4wp_form id=”6042″] Relationships were the essence of the early twentieth century “black international.” In Paris, the Martinician writer Jane Nardal took to her typewriter to make sense of a pattern she was […]

The Hunting of Billie Holiday | Politico

January 30, 2020April 5, 2020Jazz Music

How Lady Day was in the middle of a Federal Bureau of Narcotics fight for survival From his first day in office in 1930, Harry Anslinger had a problem, and everybody knew it. He had just been appointed head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics—a tiny agency, buried in the gray bowels of the Treasury […]

America’s Black Holocaust Museum Hopes To Reopen Its Doors This Year | Wisconsin Public Radio

January 29, 2020January 29, 2020African American History, Black Holocaust Museum

Thanks To A Donation, The Museum Plans To Open In Summer 2020 [mc4wp_form id=”6042″] America’s Black Holocaust Museum (ABHM) in Milwaukee is a step closer to reopening its doors after being closed for over a decade, thanks to funding from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation. The museum was founded by lynching survivor, James Cameron in 1988. […]

The Story of Josiah Henson, the Real Inspiration for ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ | Smithsonian Magazine

January 28, 2020January 28, 2020African American History

Before there was the novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe, a formerly enslaved African-American living in Canada wrote a memoir detailing his experience. [mc4wp_form id=”6042″] From its very first moments in print on March 20, 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a smashing success. It sold 3,000 copies on its first day, and Frederick […]

Killers’ Confession | The Shocking Story of Approved Killing in Mississippi | PBS

January 24, 2020January 24, 2020African American History, Emmett Till

Killers of Emmett Till Confess in Look Magazine [mc4wp_form id=”6042″] Editors Note: In the long history of man’s inhumanity to man, racial conflict has produced some of the most horrible examples of brutality. The recent slaying of Emmett Till in Mississippi is a case in point. The editors of Look are convinced that they are […]

“Blind Tom,” born a slave, at the age of 10 became the highest paid pianist of the 19th century | The Vintage News

January 23, 2020June 19, 2020African American Entertainment

Tijana Radeska, The Vintage News “Blind Tom” was a musical prodigy who was born in slavery in 1850, in the state of Georgia. He was a contemporary virtuoso of Liszt and Rubinstein, but one who seemed unaware of his skin color, his fame, or his success. Blind Tom was aware only of the sounds and […]