This story was originally reported by Ebony JJ Curry of The 19th. Meet Ebony and read more of their reporting on gender, politics and policy. Detroit was the first place Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered an early version of what would become his “I Have a Dream” speech. He recited it on June 23, […]
Culture
Posted inHistory, Politics & Policy
Stevie Wonder’s Battle for MLK Day and the New Challenges to King’s Legacy
Stevie Wonder’s new album, Hotter Than July, had been burning up the charts for months by Jan. 15, 1981. But something bigger than music was on the artist’s mind that day. Along with other Black cultural giants, the 30-year-old was leading a rally of approximately 100,000 people on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Years […]
Posted inHistory
As Federal Sites Remove Black History, Communities Organize to Fight Back
It all started with a QR code. When Gerry James learned this summer that signs had been posted at National Park Service sites encouraging visitors to use a QR code to report information that could be considered “negative about either past or living Americans,” he wanted to change the conservation. He felt as if the […]
Posted inHistory
National Parks Drop Free MLK Day and Juneteenth Entry, Further Erasing Black History
Alan Spears remembers visiting Gettysburg National Military Park with his parents in the 1970s. They wanted something educational, free, and fun to do with their only son, and the park was an obvious choice, given Spears’ interests — his favorite television show as a child was The Rat Patrol, about soldiers during World War II. […]
Posted inCulture, Partner Content, Politics & Policy, Social Welfare
Black and Latino Residents Unite to Defend South LA Amid ICE Raids and Aid Cuts
This story is part of ICE vs. LA, a collaborative reporting project by LA Public Press, Caló News, Capital & Main, Capital B, LA Taco, and Q Voice. Four months after nearly 5,000 federal troops descended onto Los Angeles, Marsha Mitchell, a Black organizer in South Central, explained what made it impossible for her not […]
Posted inEquity, History, Wealth Gap
Will Zohran Mamdani Make New York the First City to Confront Its Debt to Slavery?
Reparations for slavery and historic discrimination against African Americans once seemed like a pipe dream. But momentum for it has been building in the past five years in cities across America, including New York City, which has deep ties to slavery and has become an important testing ground of whether America is ready to make […]
Posted inLGBTQ, Partner Content
Legendary Transgender Activist Miss Major Dies at 78
Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, a legendary transgender activist, was known for many things in her community. As a caretaker, she was known for getting Black trans women off the street and housed when they faced poverty and violence. As a fierce advocate for trans rights, she was known for demanding that LGBTQ+ people focus on protecting […]
Posted inCulture, HBCUs
Inside North Carolina A&T’s Homecoming: When Greensboro Turned Blue and Gold
Photos By Cameron Smith GREENSBORO, North Carolina – Historically Black colleges and universities’ homecoming season vibes just hit different — and it’s off to a memorable start. From the fashion to the plethora of events, these annual homecomings can’t be replicated. The diversity of HBCU culture is on full display. HBCU homecomings’ roots go back […]
Posted inCulture, HBCUs
For This North Carolina A&T Family, Homecoming Traditions Span Generations
GREENSBORO, North Carolina — David Myles Robinson barely remembers his first homecoming as a 1-year-old, but he points out an old photograph of his father holding him near an escalator at a Sheraton Hotel in Greensboro, North Carolina, in the late 1990s. North Carolina A&T State University’s homecoming was like a holiday for the Robinson […]
Posted inHistory
Founded by Freedmen, Forgotten by Textbooks: The Men Reviving Mound Bayou
MOUND BAYOU, Mississippi — On an early summer morning, Hermon Johnson Jr. walked the halls of the former band hall of the John F. Kennedy High School surrounded by archival photographs and rotating exhibits. The historical records tell the story of Mound Bayou, Mississippi. The small but mighty town is one of America’s first all-Black […]
