By Jazmin GoodwinData work By Elena Cox “Beautiful, bustling, and Black”—that was how author, attorney, and activist Hannibal B. Johnson described Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Greenwood District in his book “Black Wall Street: From Riot to Renaissance in Tulsa’s Historic Greenwood District.” In the early 1900s, the Greenwood District flourished with over 100 Black-owned businesses, from restaurants […]
Category: Black History
Posted inBlack History
Black Press celebrates 198 years of advocacy
Journalists will gather at the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., on March 16 to celebrate the 198-year legacy of the Black Press and the 60th anniversary of The Washington Informer. Publisher Denise Rolark emphasized the newspaper’s historical significance, its commitment to truth, and its digital expansion as a path forward to ensure Black voices remain represented in the evolving media landscape.
Posted inBlack History
Lest we forget: Preserving the rich history buried in neglected cemeteries
By Marnita ColemanSpecial to the AFRO Across the nation, African-American cemeteries are being neglected, their sacred grounds left to decay while other historic burial sites receive the care and preservation they deserve. These hallowed resting places, rich with Black history and the legacies of the ancestors, are drowning in overgrowth, their headstones shattered and their […]
Posted inNational News
Alice Allison Dunnigan: The pioneering White House correspondent
Alice A. Dunnigan was the first African-American female correspondent at the White House and the first Black female member of the Senate and House of Representatives press galleries, and she was a trailblazer in journalism and civil rights.
Posted inNational News
Ida B. Wells-Barnett: The journalist whose legacy lives on
Ida B. Wells-Barnett was a pioneering journalist, educator and advocate who used her pen and voice to document and address the injustices faced by Black Americans, and her legacy is being revived this year with the release of a book and coin.
Posted inAFRO CHARITIES
Letters, love and legacy: The AFRO’s historic column comes to life again
Afro Charities hosted a mixer and networking session centered around their “Re-Reading the News” series, inspired by the AFRO Archives’ “Lonesome Hearts” column, where attendees exchanged letters and formed connections.
Posted inCivil Rights
‘Bloody Sunday’ 60th anniversary marked in Selma with remembrances and concerns about the future
The 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday was marked in Selma, Alabama, with calls to recommit to the fight for equality and a reminder of the importance of federal agencies in making America a democracy for all.
Posted inBlack History
Bloody Sunday at 60: This is not a celebration
Sixty years after Bloody Sunday, civil rights activists and scholars warn that the right to vote is in peril due to restrictive voting laws and attacks on voting rights.
Posted inCommentary
Fighters, resisters, survivors: Our legacy of standing tall in the face of oppression
My great-great-grandfather, Moses, was a fighter and resister who was lynched by the Ku Klux Klan in 1906 for his efforts to encourage Black people to exercise their constitutional right to vote, and today we are facing a similar moment where we must fight against the collapse of democracy and the creation of a fascist regime that is trying to break us, silence us, and erase us.
Posted inEditorial
The Black women who built the AFRO: A legacy of truth and trailblazing journalism
The AFRO-American Newspapers has a rich history of journalistic excellence, thanks to the contributions of many Black women, including Frances L. Murphy II, Elizabeth “Bettye” Murphy Moss, Ida Murphy Peters, Vashti Murphy Matthews, Carlita Murphy Jones, Elizabeth Murphy Oliver, and many others.
Posted inNational News
Law school project finds slavery citations still being used today
Prigg v. Pennsylvania, a 1842 Supreme Court ruling, continues to be cited in 274 other cases, showing the lasting impact of legal principles related to the ownership of other humans, despite the abolition of slavery in 1865.
Posted inWord In Black
The alternate reality of the 47th president’s Black History Month Celebration
Donald Trump hosted a Black History Month celebration at the White House, but the mostly Black audience in the East Room of the White House failed to question his racist policies and past actions, such as canceling Black History Month events at the Pentagon and revoking a 1965 executive order that banned racial discrimination in government employment and government contractors.