Lucy Terry was a gifted storyteller, orator, and poet, renowned for being the author of “Bars Fight” (1746), the oldest known literary work by an African American.
Lucy Terry was born around 1733 on the African continent. Like many others...
During the era of American slavery, Christianity became both a tool for oppression and a source of hope for enslaved African Americans. Slaveholders leveraged the Christian faith, twisting its messages to reinforce submission and obedience to them. Out of...
The story of Celia is similar to that of Lena Baker, a black maid who was Sentenced to the Electric Chair for Defending Herself Against her Rapist Employer. However, unlike Baker, Celia was a slave with no legal rights,...
Benjamin Boardley, an African engineer and inventor born into slavery in March 1830, created a steam engine but was denied a patent by the U.S. government due to his enslaved status. As a result, he was forced to sell...
Pope Nicholas V, born Tommaso Parentucelli in 1397, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1447 until his death in 1455. While his pontificate is remembered for its contributions to art, and...
Eduardo Chivambo Mondlane was a revolutionary leader, anthropologist, and co-founder of the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO), whose crucial involvement in Mozambique’s struggle for independence from Portuguese colonial rule ultimately led to his assassination.
Born in N’wajahani, in the Mandlakazi district...
Elizabeth Hemings was an enslaved woman who was given as a wedding gift to John Wayles and Martha Eppes, she spent her life in servitude, eventually bearing children with Wayles, one of whom, Sally Hemings, would later gain prominence...
Bud Johnson, was a 34-year-old African American farmer and World War I veteran, who was tortured and killed by a white mob after being falsely accused of assaulting a white woman. His tragic death sent a clear message that,...
Phillis, was an enslaved African woman in colonial Massachusetts, who was executed by burning at the stake in 1755. Alongside her with another enslaved man, Mark, she was accused of poisoning her abusive enslaver, John Codman, in retaliation for...
William Gibbons, born around 1825 in Albemarle County, Virginia, was an African American who was enslaved by a professor at the University of Virginia.
