History

Professing to be “unbossed and unbought,” Shirley Chisholm was the first black female major-party candidate for President of the United States, and the first black woman to be elected to Congress. Chisholm wasn’t intent on winning the presidency, but was steadfast on challenging conventions and showing Black America that they could aim high. She set […]

When Booker T. Washington stepped to the podium at the Atlanta Exposition in 1895 to give a speech on race relations, two things happened. First, many fellow Black Americans, including W.E.B. Du Bois, derided his speech as “The Atlanta Compromise,” because Washington called the agitation for social equality “the extremest folly,” advocating instead slow, steady, […]

Medgar Evers was one of the most profound activists of the Civil Rights movement. His involvement in the Regional Council of Negro Leadership led to his organization of several boycotts and protests throughout Mississippi. His work as an NAACP field secretary also helped put Mississippi at the forefront of the struggle. One of Evers biggest […]

In his seminal work, Race Matters, Dr. Cornel West questions matters of economics and politics, as well as addressing the crisis in Black leadership. The book was written in 1993, but many of its themes are salient today. His scholarship has come to be recognized globally and West, himself, is known for his combination of […]

One of the most astounding voices in African-American literature, Maya Angelou is heralded for her literary prowess and activism. Working alongside Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., Angelou was a profound figure in the Civil Rights Movement, and was the first Black woman to have a screenplay produced. The Grammy Award-winning poet is an […]

It would be easy to say that a black man born in 1947, in the ghetto of uptown Manhattan, has the odds stacked against him. But Kareem Abdul-Jabbar stood tall—7 feet, 2 inches tall — in the midst of this troublesome time and place. In high school, he won three straight New York City Catholic […]

Trina, Marsha Ambrosious, Ray J and Naughty By Nature all hit up the House of  “Hennessy Remixed $$ ” parties for # super bowl weekend. Check out the hot event pics here!