Do you know the legend of the 1st black saint?
This image is part of a weekly series that The Root is presenting in conjunction with…
Hidden History
Who were the white folks of Freedom Summer?
BY: DIAMOND SHARP, THE ROOT From SNCC leaders to Freedom School organizers, these are…
An original Freedom Rider reflects on the struggle
BY: TARYN FINLEY, THE ROOT In 1961, 19-year-old Howard University student Hank Thomas…
History of racism in the SPPD
BY JON WILSON, Columnist Like every other aspect of life in much of 20th century St.…
Who built St. Pete?
BY JON WILSON, Columnist From 1888 on, African Americans played huge roles in building…
‘Freedom Summer’ friends, 50 years later
During the ‘Freedom Summer,’ activists from the North traveled to Mississippi…
Shotgun behind the door: how black southerners fought for civil rights
Most history students never learn that even Martin Luther King Jr.—arguably history’s…
Was the author of The Three Musketeers a black man?
Amazing Fact About the Negro No. 83: Which famous 19th-century French author had African…
How Andromeda, the daughter of Ethiopian royalty, ended up white
One of the most profound qualities of the classical Greek mind has to do with its…
Happy Workers still going strong
BY JON WILSON, Columnist Opened to take care of working families’ youngsters in 1929,…
How many ‘white’ people are passing?
100 Amazing Facts About the Negro: A report reveals the proportion of Americans with…
Great African American entrepreneurs
Despite tremendous obstacles, these men and women fought for their own financial…
6 Lesser-known facts about Brown v. Board of Education
If the landmark Supreme Court case were repurposed as a modern-day legal drama, here are…
Are slave narratives useful to my family tree research?
Tracing Your Roots: A primer for using the Federal Writers Project collection, among…
Who was black America’s 1st investigative journalist?
BY HENRY LOUIS GATES JR. George Washington Williams didn’t travel to the Congo in 1890…
High cheekbones and straight black hair?
BY HENRY LOUIS GATES JR. Zora Neale Hurston once wrote with characteristic irony that…
Who was the real Dido Elizabeth Belle?
Amazing Fact About the Negro No. 78: What role did Lord Mansfield’s mixed-race…
18 black history events you should know
BY JENÉE DESMOND-HARRIS Despite the standard Black History Month lessons you may have…