U.S. History - KOLUMN Magazine

Biography of William Still, Father of the Underground Railroad | ThoughtCo.

February 6, 2020February 6, 2020African American History, Black History ...

Magical realism meets real life in the acclaimed journalist’s debut novel about American slaves escaping to the north [mc4wp_form id=”6042″] William Still (October 7, 1821–July 14, 1902) was a prominent abolitionist who coined the term Underground Railroad and, as one of the chief “conductors” in Pennsylvania helped thousands of people get free and settled away […]

African American Miniature Museum Founder and Artist Karen Collins Has”Greensboro Four” Piece Highlighted by Google to Kick off Black History Month | Good Black News

February 2, 2020February 2, 2020African American Art

Sixty years ago, four African American college students sat down quietly at a whites-only Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. [mc4wp_form id=”6042″] They received no service, only requests to leave, but they kept waiting for hours. And the next day, they returned and waited again. Within three days of their protest, more than 300 […]

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 […]

Michelle Obama Wins Grammy Award For Audio Recording Of ‘Becoming’ Memoir | HuffPost

January 29, 2020January 29, 2020African American Literature

Fans are hoping the former first lady will go on to become an EGOT. [mc4wp_form id=”6042″] Michelle Obama is now a Grammy winner. The former first lady took home the trophy in the Spoken Word Album category for the audio recording of her bestselling 2018 memoir “Becoming.” The Grammys’ Best Spoken Word Album award honors […]

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. […]

‘I believe in white supremacy’: John Wayne’s notorious 1971 Playboy interview goes viral on Twitter (2019) | The Washington Post

January 29, 2020January 29, 2020Racism

John Wayne is never going to be confused for a progressive by anyone familiar with his life and career. [mc4wp_form id=”6042″] The actor was famous as one of Hollywood’s staunchest conservatives: a onetime member of the reactionary anti-Communist John Birch Society, a producer for and actor in a film about the ignominious House Un-American Activities […]

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 […]

Remembering the 1968 Orangeburg Massacre When Police Shot Dead Three Unarmed Black Students | Democracy Now

January 21, 2020January 21, 2020African American History, Racism

The 1968 Orangeburg massacre is one of the most violent and least remembered events of the civil rights movement. [mc4wp_form id=”6042″] A crowd of students gathered on the campus of South Carolina State University to protest segregation at Orangeburg’s only bowling alley. After days of escalating tensions, students started a bonfire and held a vigil […]

Op-Ed: California’s forgotten slave history | Los Angeles Times

January 21, 2020African American History, Black History

Separated by just 60 miles along the I-10, Los Angeles and San Bernardino feel worlds apart. [mc4wp_form id=”6042″] The former boasts some of the richest urban developments and residential pockets in the nation. The latter — a “broken city,” as this newspaper put it in 2015 — struggled through five years of bankruptcy and municipal […]

Born Into Slavery, This Centenarian Learned to Read at 116, Becoming the Nation’s Oldest Student | Black Enterprise

January 13, 2020June 19, 2020African American History, Black History

Selena Hill, Black Enterprise Despite being born into slavery and enduring over a century of discrimination, Mary Hardway Walker managed to accomplish an extraordinary feat. At 116 years old, she learned to read. Walker was born in Union Springs, Alabama, in 1848 and lived in bondage until she was freed at the age of 15 following […]