Toni Morrison, Zora Neal Hurston and Nella Larsen are on this short list of enduring must-read writers.
Left to right: Nobel Prize, U.S. Library of Congress, Yale archive
Here is a small list of pivotal texts by African American women from the past century.
The historical depiction of ‘the mammy’ is a racist stereotype, with an enduring impact. Hattie McDaniel (right) won an Oscar for her role in ‘Gone with the Wind’ with Vivien Leigh (left).
Selznick International Pictures
The first NAACP meeting was held in Canada but there is no mention of Black Canadians in the books. This historical absence is a symbol of the invisibility of anti-Black racism in Canada.
Textbooks often do a poor job when it comes to teaching students about slavery in the U.S.
Dusan Pavlic from www.shutterstock.com
A former social studies teacher lists three ways educators and others can better understand the difficult subject of slavery in the US, including a way to hear directly from freed slaves themselves.
Howard Thurman’s image on Howard University chapel’s stained glass window.
Fourandsixty from Wikimedia Commons
Howard Thurman, a mentor to MLK, first met Gandhi during a visit to India in 1936. He came to understand nonviolence as a force more powerful than hate that had the power to transform the world.
Educators can use story-telling to make students more politically aware.
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Election campaigns inspire hope, but they can also quickly lead to political despair. A scholar says young citizens can learn how to take positive action and stay hopeful.
A recent and powerful exhibit by New York artist Mickalene Thomas at the Art Gallery of Ontario has opened the door for some deep discussions about Black Canadian women and visual representation.
For African slaves, folk tales were a way of remembering their past and keeping their culture alive.
‘…Everything Remains Raw,’ a show at the McMichael gallery blends traditional art spaces with fresh ideas from hip hop culture such as this piece by Patrick Nichols, 10013 Michie Mee, 1993.
Hip hop is a vibrant cultural art form that Canadian public institutions need to embrace. Our aging institutions can get a new life by integrating hip hop with and into traditional art displays.
The artists who first sang the legendary Canadian hip hop song “Northern Touch” 20 years ago reunited to perform at the 2018 Juno Awards. From left to right: Checkmate, Red1, Misfit, Kardinal Offishall, Choclair and Thrust.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
The current global dominance of Canadian music on today's Billboard charts obscures the difficulties many early rap artists faced in garnering local support for this country’s hip hop music.
A choir sings traditional gospel music.
Staff Sgt. Bernardo Fuller
For the enslaved Africans, music – rhythm in particular – became a tool of communication about their conditions. Later, it laid the foundation for spirituals and gospel songs.
Covered statue of Stonewall Jackson in Charlottesville, Virginia.
REUTERS/Justin Ide
Fifty years after MLK's death, a minority politics scholar assesses black progress in the US based on poverty, jobs and wealth. "In some ways," she concludes, "we've barely budged as a people."
Since the 19th century, a long line of black women preachers set in motion a tradition that spoke against injustices and questioned patriarchal attitudes. Here's their story.
A New York Times article from 1910 describes founding of Mound Bayou, a town founded on the wealth of a steamboat patent.
SundayMagazine.org
American slaves couldn't hold property – including patents on their own inventions. But that didn't stop black Americans from innovating since the beginning of the country's history.
When war broke out, black Americans fought in segregated units to serve their country. The breath of freedom they experienced in Europe flamed the fight for equality when they returned home.
Allison Davis, circa 1965.
Courtesy of the Davis family.