African American

By Michael Duffy Washington Post Opinions editor-at-large We are witnessing something of a watershed moment in the reckoning America is having with itself and its history. Harvard University released a 134-page report Tuesday that begins to explain how, as Post columnist Eugene Robinson put it, “the nation’s oldest, richest and most prestigious institution of higher learning” benefited from slavery.  Two Harvard…

Read More A hard historical truth about Harvard

While they have varying backgrounds and experiences, a majority of Black Americans (76%) say being Black is extremely or very important to how they think about themselves. A significant share says that when something happens to Black people in their local communities, across the nation or around the globe, it affects what happens in their own lives.…

Read More Race is central to identity for Black Americans and affects how they connect with each other

By Serena Williams I almost died after giving birth to my daughter, Olympia. Yet I consider myself fortunate. While I had a pretty easy pregnancy, my daughter was born by emergency C-section after her heart rate dropped dramatically during contractions. The surgery went smoothly. Before I knew it, Olympia was in my arms. It was the…

Read More Serena Williams: What my life-threatening experience taught me about giving birth

By Gillian Brockell “We captured three Negro soldiers, the first we had seen,” Private Byrd Willis wrote on May 8, 1864. “They were taken out on the road side and shot and their bodies left there.” Coming across these lines a century and a half later was “a chilling experience,” Lambert said in a phone interview.…

Read More Three Black soldiers executed by Confederates are finally being honored in Virginia

Loretta Mary Aiken (March 19, 1894 – May 23, 1975), known by her stage name Jackie “Moms” Mabley, was an American stand-up comedian and actress. Mabley began her career on the theater stage in the 1920s and became a veteran entertainer of the Chitlin’ Circuit of African-American vaudeville. Mabley later recorded comedy albums and appeared in films and on television programs including The…

Read More What Do You Know About “Moms” Mabley?

By Shawn Donnan, Ann Choi, Hannah Levitt, and Christopher Cannon March 11, 2022 Nationwide, only 47% of Black homeowners who completed a refinance application with Wells Fargo in 2020 were approved, compared with 72% of White homeowners, according to a Bloomberg News analysis of federal mortgage data. JPMorgan Chase & Co., the largest U.S. bank by assets,…

Read More Black Mortgage Applicants with Almost Highest Income Approved at Same Rate as White Applicants with Lowest Income

HARRIET TUBMAN KEPT PUSHING FOR CHANGE AFTER THE ‘RAILROAD’

By Starlight Williams, Associate Editor Thursday, March 10, 2022 In her nine decades (she died on this day in 1913), Tubman (pictured in 1878) became the first U.S. woman to lead an armed military raid and was a spy and nurse for the Union during the Civil War. She joined Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony in their…

HARRIET TUBMAN KEPT PUSHING FOR CHANGE AFTER THE ‘RAILROAD’" class="entry-more-link">Read More HARRIET TUBMAN KEPT PUSHING FOR CHANGE AFTER THE ‘RAILROAD’

Honoring Black History Month: Oprah, Rihanna, Serena Williams, and more, are among some of the richest, self-made Black women in the world

Wed, February 23, 2022, 11:00 AM For every $1 the average white man in America earns, the average Black woman earns near $.69, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In honor of Black History Month, we took a look at some of the richest self-made Black women in the world, who are changing the finance…

Honoring Black History Month: Oprah, Rihanna, Serena Williams, and more, are among some of the richest, self-made Black women in the world" class="entry-more-link">Read More Honoring Black History Month: Oprah, Rihanna, Serena Williams, and more, are among some of the richest, self-made Black women in the world

Soldier For Life  Cathay Williams was the first documented black woman to enlist in the U.S. Army. Williams was born a slave in Missouri in 1844. She served as an Army cook during the Civil War, traveling with infantry units as they moved from state to state. In November 1866, Williams enlisted in the Army…

Read More Cathay Williams, Soldier for Life

By Paula Ebben February 17, 2022 at 11:20 pm BOSTON (CBS) – It was Newport, September 1953. The centerpiece of the wedding of Jacqueline Bouvier and Senator John F. Kennedy was a dress fit for a princess, a classic Ann Lowe. An ivory silk-taffeta gown with a portrait neckline and a full bouffant skirt, it was a…

Read More Ann Lowe, Black Designer Of Jackie Kennedy’s Wedding Dress, Finally Getting Long Overdue Recognition

By Emily Yahr February 13, 2022 at 12:00 p.m. EST After a decade of running into countless roadblocks trying to launch a career in country music, singer-songwriter Mickey Guyton has achieved a milestone that few musicians ever will: On Sunday, she will sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl in front of the biggest TV audience of the year.…

Read More Mickey Guyton singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl is a triumph that was a decade in the making

Lucy Higgs Nichols was born into slavery in Tennessee, but during the Civil War, she managed to escape and found her way to the 23rd Indiana Infantry Regiment which was encamped nearby. She stayed with the regiment and worked as a nurse throughout the war.After the war, she moved north with the regiment and settled…

Read More Lucy Higgs Nichols