Literary Hub » African-American history

Still Fighting For Liberty and Justice For All: A Visual History of Black America

Still Fighting For Liberty and Justice For All: A Visual History of Black America

LaGarrett King on the Invaluable Contributions of Black Revolutionaries to America’s Founding

By LaGarrett King | November 18, 2024

The Systemic Sexual Violence Hidden in Plain Sight During America’s Slave Trade

The Systemic Sexual Violence Hidden in Plain Sight During America’s Slave Trade

Kali Gross on Slave Owners' Sadism, the Moral Connotations of Skin Colors to Europeans, and Legalized Assault

By Kali Gross | October 4, 2024

How Brooklyn’s Earliest Black Residents Found Empowerment and Solidarity in Their Diverse Community

How Brooklyn’s Earliest Black Residents Found Empowerment and Solidarity in Their Diverse Community

Prithi Kanakamedala Explores the Little Known History of 19th-Century New York City

By Prithi Kanakamedala | September 18, 2024

Black Girl Group Magic: The Marvelettes on How They Became Motown Music Legends

Black Girl Group Magic: The Marvelettes on How They Became Motown Music Legends

"The next thing that we knew 'Please Mr. Postman' was number one on the Billboard chart"

By Literary Hub | October 9, 2023

How W. E. B. Du Bois Helped Pioneer African American Humanist Thought

How W. E. B. Du Bois Helped Pioneer African American Humanist Thought

Christopher Cameron on the Complex Relationship Between Black Americans and the Black Church

By Christopher Cameron | July 27, 2023

Anita Gail Jones on Crafting Fiction From Family Heirlooms

Anita Gail Jones on Crafting Fiction From Family Heirlooms

"Objects can carry the heft of memory, uplifting or debilitating, but never passive."

By Anita Gail Jones | July 27, 2023

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How World War I Inspired Black Americans to Fight for Dignity at Home

By Victor Luckerson | June 1, 2023

Not White But Not (Entirely) Black: On the Complex History of "Passing" in America

By Herb Harris | May 3, 2023

How Huey P. Newton’s Early Intellectual Life Led Him To Activism

By Mark Whitaker | February 13, 2023

How a Group of Black Activists Inspired Solidarity and Struggle in Mississippi

How a Group of Black Activists Inspired Solidarity and Struggle in Mississippi

Dan Berger on Freedom Summer in the Segregationist Heart of the Deep South

By Dan Berger | January 25, 2023

Aja Monet on Robin D.G. Kelley and the Ongoing Struggle for Black Liberation

Aja Monet on Robin D.G. Kelley and the Ongoing Struggle for Black Liberation

“Sometimes we trip into our past as we endure the present, but freedom is always now.”

By Aja Monet | August 24, 2022

How Fiction Helps Bring History’s Extraordinary Yet Forgotten Women To Life

How Fiction Helps Bring History’s Extraordinary Yet Forgotten Women To Life

Alexandra Lapierre on Immersing Herself in the Life of Belle da Costa Greene

By Alexandra Lapierre | June 30, 2022

How One of America’s Most Influential Black Writers Befriended a Pioneering American Aviator

How One of America’s Most Influential Black Writers Befriended a Pioneering American Aviator

Gene Andrew Jarrett on the Unexpected Friendship of Paul Laurence Dunbar and Orville Wright

By Gene Andrew Jarrett | June 27, 2022

On the Forgotten Voices of the Abolition Movement

On the Forgotten Voices of the Abolition Movement

J.D. Dickey Recommends Five Essential Texts

By J.D. Dickey | March 3, 2022

On the Black Descendants of Thomas Jefferson and Uncovering the Origins of Family Lore

On the Black Descendants of Thomas Jefferson and Uncovering the Origins of Family Lore

Gayle Jessup White Considers What It Means to Remember the Past

By Gayle Jessup White | November 18, 2021

Meet Ed Vaughn, an understated Black Power icon and former bookstore owner.

Meet Ed Vaughn, an understated Black Power icon and former bookstore owner.

By Aaron Robertson | June 25, 2020