112 Years Ago Today, George Poage Became the First Black American to Win an Olympic Medal
George Poage, a track athlete, was the first Black American to compete and win a medal in the Olympics. On September 1, 1904, Poage won his first of two bronze…
The 1st Woman to Play Professional Baseball Was a Black Woman
Toni Stone, who was born with the name Marcenia Stone, was the first woman to play professional baseball. From a young age, Stone was always athletic. At age 15, Stone…
The Black History Behind Labor Day
Labor Day was founded after the Pullman Strike of 1894, when President Cleveland was hoping to gain political allyship by honoring railroad workers. However, the story about the involvement of…
62 Years Ago Today, Baltimore Schools Were Desegregated
On September 7, 1954, Baltimore schools officially opened on an integrated basis. This was made possible by the Supreme Court’s decision on May 17, 1954, which ruled that racial segregation…
National Inmate Work Strike Launches to End Prison Slavery
On September 9th, inmates throughout the country launched a work strike to end prison slavery. The call for the strike came from those incarcerated in Alabama and Texas Prisons, and…
NFL Players Protest National Anthem During Opening Games
Colin Kaepernick’s protest of the national anthem has led to even more NFL players protesting it. This past opening weekend, numerous NFL players protested the anthem in order to highlight…
20th Transgender Person Killed This Year
According to the Windy City Times, a transgender woman named T.T. was found dead in Chicago’s Garfield Park on Sunday night. T.T. was found with her throat slit, and a…
Clint Smith Explores Black Joy & Black Pain in New Book
Last year, we sat down with our friend Clint Smith, renowned poet and writer whose TED talk, “How to Raise a Black Son in America” is reaching millions of folks.…
Incarceration in the United States Costs Over One Trillion Dollars
Despite being “the land of the free,” the United States has the biggest prison population in the world. The U.S. accounts for less than 5 percent of the world’s population,…