Black History News
Vietnam Vet Fighting for the Rights of Black Soldiers
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia Vietnam War veteran Ari Merretazon is spending another Veteran’s Day fighting for fellow soldiers in Philadelphia. A court is expected to hear soon more arguments in a case Merretazon has brought against the city. Philadelphia officials have failed to follow a 1955 provision in the city charter…
Read More$100,000 Naming Rights Contribution Announced by Cecil Williams Civil Rights Museum in Orangeburg
A $100,000 contribution to the Cecil Williams Civil Rights Museum in Orangeburg has been announced with naming rights to one of the museum’s eight history galleries. “In accordance with wishes of the donors, Kathy and Kenneth Chenault of the Ayco Charitable Foundation, the entrance foyer and gallery in the museum has been named the,…
Read MoreAustralian Researchers Say Botswana is Ancestral Home of Modern Humans
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia The ancestral home of modern humans is in Botswana, according to a new study by researchers at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney. Although some of the oldest skeletal remains suggest an eastern African origin, Southern Africa is home to contemporary populations that represent the…
Read MoreInteractive Comprehensive Map Shows Thousands of Lynchings Thoughout American History
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia In the century following the Civil War, as many as 5,000 people of color were murdered by mobs who believed in the cause of white supremacy. On average, mobs killed nine people per month during the 1890s. Over the next 20 years, seven people each month…
Read MoreNational Museum of African American Music Assembles All-Star Band of Creative Agencies to Launch Grand Opening
When the National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM) officially opens its doors in the summer of 2020, it will be a first-of-its-kind cultural institution that celebrates the tradition of the people behind Black music and the music’s significant impact on the soundtrack of American society. Located in the heart of Downtown Nashville, Tennessee, the museum will…
Read MoreIllinois Prison Bans Black History Books
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia In the 1800s, many states in the Union adopted laws that prohibited teaching African American slaves how to read and write. Thirty lashes or even death would be the punishment for blacks who learned to read or write. Whites who taught blacks would incur fines or…
Read MoreSC African American History Calendar November 2019 Honoree: Henrietta Snype
A true artist and craftswoman, Henrietta Snype is a master sweetgrass basket weaver and educator. She is devoted to the education and revival of a culture rich in tradition. Born and raised in Mount Pleasant, S.C., she learned how to weave baskets at the age of seven from her mother, Mary Mazyck, and grandmother. At…
Read More‘Hidden Figure’ Katherine Johnson Turns 101
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia Katherine Johnson, one of the African American women whose stories received global attention in the best-selling book and blockbuster movie, “Hidden Figures,” has turned 101. The renowned mathematician was instrumental in Alan Shepherd’s 1961 journey to space. She also played a pivotal role in John Glenn becoming…
Read MoreGwen Ifill Immortalized with Postal Service Forever Stamp
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia The 43rd stamp in the United States Postal Service’s Black Heritage series honors Gwen Ifill, one of America’s most esteemed journalists. The stamp features a photo of Ifill taken in 2008 by photographer Robert Severi and designed by Derry Noyes, according to the Postal Service. Among the…
Read MoreGroundbreaking for Expanded African American Civil War Museum Prepares Historic DC Corridor for National and International Visitors
By Hazel Trice Edney (TriceEdneyWire.com) – In the 400th year since the first enslaved Africans reached the shores of America, a groundbreaking in the nation’s Capital has begun a monumental $45 million expansion of a facility to honor Black veterans of the Civil War – slaves and descendants of slaves – who literally fought their…
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