Lisa McNair never knew her sister, Denise. But Denise’s story has always been with her. Sixty years ago, on Sept. 15, 1963, members of the Ku Klux Klan planted some 15 sticks of dynamite under the steps of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, which was a nucleus of the Civil Rights Movement. […]
Culture
Posted inCulture, History
Racist Policies, Racist Attack: Jacksonville Deplores Lack of Black History Education
JACKSONVILLE — Just after 6 p.m. Monday, chants rang out from James Weldon Johnson Park. Black fists waved in the air as cheers and claps mobilized the crowd that had gathered downtown for a rally against white supremacy. “Black lives matter!” they yelled from underneath trees that provided little shade from Florida’s summer heat. It had […]
Posted inCulture, History, Partner Content
Tulsa Massacre Survivor Becomes Oldest Woman in the World to Release a Memoir
Editor’s Note: This story was originally published by The 19th in 2023. Viola Ford Fletcher, the oldest living survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre, died at 111 years old Monday. More than 100 years later, Viola Fletcher can still vividly remember the smell of her thriving neighborhood — dubbed America’s “Black Wall Street” — burning. Fletcher, now […]
Posted inCulture, History
The Next Phase of the Tulsa Race Massacre Survivors’ Legal Battle
The three known survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre refuse to stop fighting for restitution, even after a Tulsa County District Court judge tossed out their lawsuit seeking reparations. “The dismissal of this case is just one more example of how America’s — and specifically Tulsa’s — legacy of racial harm, racial distress, is […]
Posted inCulture, History
Activist Recounts the Forgotten History of Black-Native Solidarity
In 1966, at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Black mega-celebrity and activist Dick Gregory was sentenced to 90 days in the Thurston County jail in Washington for illegal net fishing. As a coordinated movement of sit-ins for voting rights and desegregation spread across the South like wildfires, “fish-ins,” an effort for increased native […]
Posted inCulture, LGBTQ
This Black Trans Filmmaker Highlights the Joy in Her Community
For Kristen Lovell, simply picking up the camera is a revolutionary act. Being in the director’s chair allows the Black transgender filmmaker to extend empathy and dimensionality to members of her community in a world resistant to their mere presence. Just a few days into Pride Month, the Human Rights Campaign, for the first time […]
Posted inCulture, Sports
Racism Pervades College Sports. It’s Taking an Alarming Toll on Athletes.
LOS ANGELES — Sometimes, fans would hurl the N-word. Other times, they’d tell her how much she looked like a man. Occasionally, in less of a low blow, they’d talk down to her, calling her “girl.” The slurs are not uncommon to Koi Love. Playing college basketball in the Southeastern Conference meant traveling to majority white […]
Posted inCulture, History, Partner Content
Louisiana sisters fight to protect their community’s health and enslaved ancestors’ history
Originally published by The 19th We’re telling the untold stories of women, women of color and LGBTQ+ people. Sign up for our daily newsletter. WALLACE, La.— There are only a handful of homes situated on Alexis Court, but there are a whole lot of memories. At one end of the short street, facing the Mississippi […]
Posted inCulture, Sports
How Angel Reese and Other Black Female Athletes Are Pushing Back Against the Criticism
The NCAA’s “Most Outstanding Player,” Angel Reese, is unapologetically who she is — and she’s among the next generation of Black female athletes refusing to let double standards command the narrative around how they compete. The Louisiana State University basketball player and others are not only playing in a fresh manicure and lashes while embracing […]
Posted inCulture, History
The Fight to Stop the Erasure of Historic Black Towns
The Rev. Darryl Johnson rejoiced when he received a text message that a deal to sell the remaining 100 acres of the historic Robert Hungerford Preparatory High School property in Eatonville, Florida, fell through a week ago. After hearing the news that a developer dropped out of the controversial plan to buy the land, the […]
