The phrase “Black is Beautiful” has long been associated with the civil rights and Black power movements but it has roots that reach even further back. John Stewart Rock, one of the America’s first Black doctors and lawyers, is said to have coined the phrase in one of his speeches as an abolitionist. Rock […]
Thanks to Hollywood blockbusters, the image of the modern jewel thief typically features a dashing leading man who can charm anyone. However, America’s top jewel thief is a Black woman by the name of Doris Payne, who was so infamous at her craft that she was hunted internationally by Interpol. Ms. Payne, 86, celebrated […]
Haile Selassie became Ethiopia’s final emperor on this day in 1930, ruling the country for over four decades before he was exiled from power. He is remembered not just as the head of an African nation but as a deity in the Rastafarian religion. November 2 is seen among Rastafarian practitioners as a holy […]
In the late 60’s in Chicago, tensions between white police officers and Black city residents were tense. Observing the mistreatment of Black people, Black officers on the Chicago force formed the Afro-American Patrolmen’s League to serve as a bridge of communication and protector for their respective communities. The AAPL was formed by Edward “Buzz” Palmer, […]
Black circus performers have found varying levels of fame over the years, but little is known about the stars of Europe. Olga Kaira, better known as Miss LaLa, dazzled audiences across the continent and was the subject of one of the art world’s most prized works. Anna Olga Albertina Brown was born April 21, 1858 […]
The second game of the World Series took place Wednesday night between the Chicago Cubs and the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field. Some might be surprised to know that there is a rich piece of Black history attached to the former Jacobs Field, along with a connection to actress Kym E. Whitley’s family. In the early […]
Blacks oppressed by white and violent hate groups across the Deep South saw reason to celebrate on this day in 1988. The Ku Klux Klan and the Southern White Knights of Forsyth County, Ga. were ordered to pay nearly $1 million to its Black victims. On January 17, 1987, around 55 marchers gathered in […]
The town of Lyles Station, Indiana was one of the early farming settlements for free Blacks in the North, and remains the only such community of its sort today. The community was featured at the recently opened Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Named after Black farmer Joshua Lyles, the town was […]
Dr. Justina L. Ford was a pioneering physician who practiced medicine in Colorado, despite facing the barriers of race and gender. Dr. Ford, better known as the “Lady Doctor,” was rumored to have delivered 7,000 babies in her lifetime and was the lone Black female doctor in the state for the first half of the […]
Comedian and author Dick Gregory has been active since the ’60’s and is showing no signs of slowing down. Gregory turns 84 today and the activist remains fiery and opinionated as ever. Richard Claxton Gregory was born in 1932 in St. Louis. A star track and field athlete, Gregory ran for two years as a […]
The NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund is the first civil and human rights law firm, established in 1940 by late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. The early seeds of the LDF can be traced to the year before when prominent Black attorney Charles Hamilton Houston helped bolster the NAACP’s legal department. Houston, a former vice-dean and dean […]
Marques Brownlee was once called the best technology reviewer on the planet by a former top executive at Google. While Brownlee has never made such a claim for himself, his popular YouTube channel is one of the most-watched on the social media network. Brownlee, 22, is a native of Maplewood, N.J. He came by his […]
