In the late 19th century, Memphis, Tennessee, was a city rife with racial tension, where economic success for African Americans was often met with hostility. At the heart of this disturbance was Peoples Grocery, a thriving Black-owned store that...
Ned was an enslaved African owned by Oscar J.E. Stuart, a lawyer and planter from Mississippi, known for inventing the innovative “double plow and scraper." Despite the practical importance of the invention, Ned could not patent it due to...
Abu al-Misk Kafur, born in 905, was a black eunuch and freed slave who ascended to the highest echelons of power, ruling Egypt and parts of Syria as the de facto ruler from 946 until his death in 968.
Kafur’s...
In March 1860, Rev. Jermain Wesley Loguen, a formerly enslaved man turned abolitionist, received a shocking letter from Sarah Logue, the wife of his former enslaver. In the letter, Sarah demanded that Loguen either return to her as a...
The Christmas holiday, a time typically associated with joy and festivity, held a complex and multifaceted significance for enslaved Africans across the Americas and the Caribbean. While some slaves embraced the brief moments of relaxation and celebration, others saw...
Lynching was one of the most brutal tools of racial terror in the United States, serving as a public spectacle of white supremacy and a tool of social control over African Americans. Between the late 19th century and well...
Ekwensu occupies a significant place in Igbo cosmology as the Alusi (deity) of war and trade. As a spirit associated with negotiation, bargains, and strategy, Ekwensu was both revered and feared for his ability to guide warriors in battle...
In colonial Maryland in 1681, a young Irish woman named Eleanor Butler, also known as Irish Nell, made a bold and controversial decision that would forever change her life. At just 16 years old, she defied societal norms by...
Among the Serer people of the Senegambia region, a profound creation story reveals a world brought into existence by Roog, a genderless and transcendent deity. Unlike many gods in global mythologies, Roog is both male and female, yet beyond...
Mary Lumpkin, a former enslaved woman, inherited the land housing Lumpkin’s Jail, a notorious slave facility infamous for its brutal treatment of enslaved Africans and its role in forced breeding for profit. Willed to her by Robert Lumpkin, her...
