Not even the first lady of the most powerful nation in the world is immune to stereotypes that have plagued Black women since first setting foot on American soil. Stereotypes of being the "angry Black woman" and curiosity about differences in appearance still persist from the academy to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. As African-American women rise in…

This article presents an interview with Dr. Edward Ayers, a recognized expert on Southern history and president of the University of Richmond. According to Dr. Ayers, 2011 marks the start of the sesquicentennial of the Civil War and the emancipation of African-Americans. It is an important distinction based on the evolution of Civil War…

Ruth Simmons made a big news splash a decade ago when she was named president of Brown University, making her the first Black president of an Ivy League institution. She made another splash three years later by naming a committee to investigate Brown's role in the slave trade and make recommendations on possible reparations. Reflecting on her…

After two elections and several recounts and court decisions, the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma has installed a new principal chief for the first time in a dozen years. Unlike his predecessor, Chief Bill John Baker has not opposed descendants of the tribe's former slaves, known as the Cherokee Freedmen, having rights as tribal citizens. That legal…

With an estimated 27 million people enslaved around the world, academics at a recent international conference on human trafficking explored ways they could help end the shameful practice. Professors, students, non-governmental organizations and others gathered at the Conference on Religion, Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery, held at the…

Two years after the opening of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, the $110 million center, opened with exhibits on how enslaved African-Americans risked their lives to make the northward trek to freedom. Today, however, the center is shifting its focus while serving as an educational focal point, research asset and change agent.…

Few regions in the U.S. boast a more plentiful array of historically significant sites than the 175-mile-long route between Monticello, Virginia, and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. From the most venerated of Civil War battlefields to nine historic homes of U.S. presidents and thousands of sites listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the…

In this article, the author profiles Dr. Tony Martin, a historian who has spent 34 years teaching at Wellesley College, a small all-female school in Wellesley, Massachusetts. While he wishes to be remembered in his role as a prolific scholar of Marcus Garvey, the public knows him mostly as a controversial figure--his much smaller body of work on…