In the early nineteenth century United States, being legally free did not always mean being safe. For thousands of free Black Americans living in border regions, freedom existed under constant threat from kidnapping rings that supplied enslaved labor to...
The Igbo Landing event stands out in the history of American slavery because it was not a typical plantation revolt, escape attempt, or organized military insurrection. Instead, they rebelled against slavery in the most final way, walking into the...
On January 8, 1811, along the sugar plantations of Louisiana’s German Coast, enslaved Africans rose up in one of the boldest acts of resistance in American history. Led by Charles Deslondes, the uprising would become the largest slave rebellion...
Andrew Watson was a Scottish footballer who made history as the world’s first Black international football player and captain. Playing for Scotland between 1881 and 1882, he was a pioneer in the sport, achieving success at a time when...
For the millions of Africans brought to the Americas in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, the Bible occupied a paradoxical place. In the hands of enslavers, it became a tool of control, a weapon wielded to justify cruelty...
In July 1849, Charleston’s Workhouse, a city-run prison for enslaved Africans, erupted in a desperate, violent revolt. It was here, in a place designed to crush every ounce of freedom, that Nicholas Kelly led an uprising that became one...
Before the world saw Nazi Germany turn racism into law, many Germans were already being entertained by it. In the years after Hitler came to power, a traveling show called the German Africa Show (Deutsche Afrika-Schau) toured across the...
Saint Frances Academy was founded in 1828 by Mary Elizabeth Lange, later known as Mother Mary Lange, at a time when educating Black people was frowned upon. It stands today as the first and oldest continually operating Black Catholic...
When Cotton Mather published The Negro Christianized in 1706, his message went beyond a call to spiritual duty. It was also a calculated appeal to the interests of slaveholders. He argued that introducing Christianity to enslaved servants would not...
In the late 19th century, as the French empire aggressively expanded across West Africa, one Malian king refused to bow to colonial subjugation. His name was Babemba Traoré, the last ruler of the Kénédougou Kingdom. Revered today as a...
