The First Black-Owned Bookstore and the Fight for Freedom
Black abolitionist David Ruggles opened the first Black-owned bookstore in 1834, pointing the way to freedom—in more ways than one.
How Residential Segregation Looked in the South
A longstanding idea about southern segregation is that it was more "intimate" than its northern counterpart. What's the truth?
Interview: The League of Revolutionary Black Workers
Two industrial workers, members of Detroit’s League of Revolutionary Black Workers, share experiences with political organizing and education.
The Detroit Rebellion
From 1964 to 1972, at least 300 U.S. cities faced violent upheavals, the biggest led by the League of Revolutionary Black Workers, in Detroit.
Nashoba: Not So Interracial, Not So Utopian
In the 1820s, Frances Wright established a community whose major project was the emancipation of enslaved people. Why did it crash and burn?
How Black Americans Co-opted the Fourth of July
After the Civil War, white southerners saw the Fourth of July as a celebration of Confederate defeat. Black southerners saw opportunities.
Shirley Chisholm: Sisterhood Is Complicated
A 1974 interview on feminism and politics with the first Black major-party candidate for president.
Abolitionist “Wide Awakes” Were Woke Before “Woke”
“Now the old men are folding their arms and going to sleep,” said William H. Seward while campaigning for Lincoln, “and the young men are Wide Awake.”
Five Decades of Black Activism in St. Louis
Elizabeth Hinton, Percy Green II, Robin D. G. Kelley, Tef Poe, George Lipsitz, and Jamala Rogers trace the history from Civil Rights to Black Lives Matter.
