History

Ellen Bordon: The Woman Who Tortured an Enslaved Woman to Death in a Jealous Rage

In September, 1855, the town of Franklin, Tennessee, was shaken by one of the most horrifying acts of cruelty ever recorded. A woman named Ellen Bordon, driven by jealousy over her husband’s attention to an enslaved Black woman in...

Born Enslaved, Destined to Sing: The Story of Elizabeth Greenfield

Elizabeth Greenfield, known as “The Black Swan,” was one of the most remarkable vocalists of the 19th century. Born into slavery in Natchez, Mississippi, sometime between 1808 and 1826, she overcame immense racial and social barriers to become the...

The Short Life of Lil’ Bobby Hutton: The 17-Year-Old Black Panther Murdered by the American Police in 1968

On April 6, 1968, 17-year-old Robert James “Lil’ Bobby” Hutton was murdered by Oakland police in a hail of bullets. He was the first member of the Black Panther Party (BPP) to be killed, just a year and a...

Henry Brown: The Enslaved African Who Escaped Slavery By Mailing Himself to Freedom

Throughout the history of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, many enslaved Africans were forced to live their lives without ever experiencing freedom. However, the innate human desire for self-determination remained unyielding, leading many to seek freedom through the Underground Railroad...

Mary Prince: The First Black Woman to Publish an Autobiography of Her Life in Slavery

Mary Prince was the first Black woman to publish an autobiography detailing her experiences in slavery. Born into slavery in Bermuda, she was sold multiple times and endured severe hardships across the Caribbean. In 1828, she traveled to England,...

Louis-Benoît Zamor: The Enslaved African Who Helped Topple a French Aristocrat

Born in Chittagong (modern-day Bangladesh) in 1762, Louis-Benoît Zamor was taken as a child by British slave traders and trafficked to France, where he was gifted to Madame du Barry, the mistress of King Louis XV. However, rather than...

Rhineland Bastard: The Hidden History of Nazi Persecution of Afro-Germans

Coined in post-World War I Germany, the term Rhineland bastard was used to describe Afro-German children born to German mothers and Black African soldiers who served in the French occupation forces. From the outset, these children were dehumanized, framed...

William Bowser: The Enslaved African Who Was Executed for Participating in a Slave Ship Revolt in 1826

On April 26, 1826, a desperate struggle for freedom unfolded aboard the Decatur, a coastwise slave ship sailing from Baltimore, Maryland, to New Orleans. Among the enslaved Africans on board was 24-year-old William Bowser, a young man who had...

William Still: The Abolitionist Who Helped 649 Africans Escape Slavery in America

William Still, was a very important figure in the abolitionist movement in the United States. Known as the "Father of the Underground Railroad," Still played a crucial role in aiding and assisting at least 649 enslaved Africans escape to...

Sophiatown: The Black Cultural Hub That Was Destroyed Under Apartheid and Rebuilt as a Whites-Only Area

Sophiatown, also known as Sof’town or Kofifi, was a vibrant cultural and intellectual hub in Johannesburg, South Africa, before its destruction under apartheid. A unique freehold township, it was one of the few urban areas where Black South Africans...
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Rev. Daniel Worth: The Pastor Sentenced to One Year in Jail for Speaking Out Against American Slavery

In the slaveholding South, even words could be treated as weapons. Preaching against slavery or distributing antislavery literature was...
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