Independent Voices of the Black American Press
The digitized newspapers in this open access collection offer insight into the country’s diverse civil rights movements following the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Words on the Way In: A Retrospective
The first installment of a new column on living language: talking about COVID (talk)
Donald Goines, Detroit’s Crime Writer Par Excellence
The writer used hard-boiled fiction as a wide lens to accurately capture the widescreen disparity of Black life in the 1970s.
The Slap That Changed American Film-Making
When Sidney Poitier slapped a white murder suspect on screen, it changed how the stories of Black Americans were portrayed on film.
Censoring Ulysses
In reviewing the UK Home Office files on James Joyce's Ulysses, a historian found baffled officials afraid to bring more attention to it.
The 1918 Flu Pandemic’s Impact on Movie Theaters
With WWI coming to end, 1918 should have been a good year for the movies. Then along came influenza.
Animal Teachers and Marie de France
The twelfth century poet Marie de France used animals to teach lessons of courtly love.
Why the “Black Playboy” Folded After Just Six Issues
Duke magazine aimed to celebrate the good life for the era’s growing Black middle-class.
The Native American Music Awards
Native American musicians and performers have been honored since 1998 by the Nammys.
Writing Poetry in Prison as an Act of Resistance
A writer recounts her uncle's experiences writing poetry in prison and advocating for Indigenous rights. His death and his typewriter are intertwined.