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Exploring Black history in the US and across the globe. In collaboration with @gettyimages.bsky.social & @originsosu.bsky.social www.picturingblackhistory.org Banner and profile pictures: Getty Images
On March 3, 1991, four white Los Angeles police officers assaulted Rodney King, an unarmed Black motorist. The resulting protest is often called a "riot". Navid Farnia argues that this label undermines Black and Brown communities' resistance to violence and ignores protesters' genuine grievances.
On #thisdayinhistory, the Nation of Islam announced a new leader, Wallace Delaney Muhammad, after the death of Elijah Muhammad in 1975. After becoming the leader of the Black Muslim movement in America, Wallace D. Muhammad was in a position to become one of the most powerful Black leaders.
In 1984, Jesse Jackson ran for president in the Democratic primary. Jackson, a well-renowned civil rights activist, ran a campaign dedicated to remedying the systemic struggles Black families, especially women and children, faced. Honor Jackson's legacy and passing by celebrating his memory.
We are officially in the second week of our Picturing Black History giveaway! As the month progresses, don't forget to enter the giveaway at our pinned Instagram post. In the meantime, check out the latest Picturing Black History sneak peek: Professor Sheneese Thompson's "Bombing MOVE."
Happy Black History Month! In honor of the 100-year anniversary of Black History Month, read Professor Damarius Johnson’s fantastic article on the origins of Black History Month! Once you have, check out our pinned post on Instagram for more details about our Picturing Black History book giveaway.
Gearing up for this year's Winter Olympics? Check out Professor Letisha Brown's article on track and field legend Wilma Rudolph and her record breaking 100-meter dash. Rudolph was the first female American athlete to win three gold medals, ensuring her place as one of track and field's greats.
On January 23, 1906, famed educator Booker T. Washington spoke at a fundraising event at Carnegie Hall in New York to support the Tuskegee Institute in the lead up to its 25th anniversary. The celebration, also known as the “Silver Jubilee,” ran from April 1 to 6, 1906. Read more here!
Sojourner Truth’s name is synonymous with her iconic "Ain't I a Woman" speech given at the 1851 Women’s Convention in Ohio. But how much do we really know about Sojourner Truth? Much of what is widely embraced about the famous activist and orator is mythology, while the truth lives in the shadows.
Once enslaved and later the first Black American to graduate from West Point, Henry Ossian Flipper is America’s overlooked, trailblazing antihero.
Venezuela's in the news. Wondering how we got here? Check out this article from political scientist John Polga-Hecimovich on the roots of Venezuela's failing state.
Article available in English, Spanish, and Chinese.
The best Christmas gift we could think of is more new content from Picturing Black History!🎅🎁🎄Read the latest from historian Paul McAllister on the flamboyant boxer Sugar Ray Robinson, an entertainer as comfortable mingling with Hollywood stars as he was moving across the ring.
#BlackHistory
In popular histories of jazz, New Orleans and New York dominate. While both cities are significant in the development of Jazz music, they weren’t the only places where jazz was being made. 🎷Pittsburgh’s segregated Hill District became a hub of jazz and Black culture.
#Blackhistory #Jazz #Music
As we dance into December, we're highlighting the work of Black choreographer Alvin Ailey. Using the universal language of movement, Ailey successfully bridged cultures and generations to celebrate American pluralism, emphasizing the vital contributions of African Americans to the American canon.
Students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities played a major role in the Civil Rights Movement. Scholar Kimberly Monroe explains how student activists influenced three sites: the local campus, elite institutions, and the institutions that set policy for colleges and universities.
It's been one year since we published Picturing Black History: Photographs and Stories that Changed the World 🥳As always, a huge thanks to @gettyarchive for their ongoing support and collaboration, and a huge thanks to you all for being with us this last year!
This #VeteransDay, we celebrate and recognize African American servicemembers. As historian Paul McAllister explains, African Americans have a long history of military service, albeit segregated. Learn how the World Wars altered this dynamic through integration and the inclusion of women.
Infantrymen jumping from airplanes behind enemy lines was a brand-new proposition during World War II. Black paratroopers proved an equally radical idea. First Sergeant Walter Morris and 16 men formed the “colored test platoon”, forming a full-fledged battalion in November 1944.
#Blackhistory
On November 4th, Millions of Americans cast their votes in general elections across the country. While the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees the separation between church and state, politicians throughout U.S. history have merged religion with politics.
#Elections #USHistory
While Jackie Robinson is most well-known for his Hall of Fame baseball career, he also broke barriers in military service. As a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army, he endured a court-martial in pursuit of equal rights for Black soldiers and symbolized dedication to uplifting the Black community.
Today, millions of Americans trust the National Weather Service to provide timely warnings for hurricanes. That was not the case in 1900 for its predecessor, the U.S. Weather Bureau. The result was a tragedy that reshaped the Gulf Coast and led one man to devote himself to the study of hurricanes.
Gil Scott-Heron's "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" features in Paul Thomas Anderson's "One Battle After Another".
Although labeled the "godfather of rap", Scott-Hern didn't much like the moniker. Learn from historian Steve Conn on how Scott-Heron approached his craft.
#Onebattleafteranother
The #WorldSeries starts this week! ⚾️ Christopher Shell examines how baseball helped Afro-Latino baseball player Orestes Minoso and actor Nat King Cole form a deep connection, as each understood the other’s struggle to gain their respective achievements at a time when race mattered more than talent.
The sharecropping system kept southern Black farmers dependent on white landowners. Yet even sharecroppers rested on Sunday—and that’s when photographer Ben Shahn caught up with this family in 1935. Learn how Shahn's photographs privileged the Black experience without any visible white interference.
In October 1971, Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai hosted a delegation of Black Panther Party members at a banquet in China.
Scholar Melvin Barnes, Jr. tells the story of the relationship between Black Internationalism and Cold War China in the context of broader U.S.-Chinese relations.
#Blackhistory
In October 1952, Charlotte Hawkins Brown retired after 50 years as a principal and teacher. In this photograph, she stands with a bust of Alice Freeman Palmer, one of the first women admitted to the #UniversityofMichigan. Read from Michele Ronnick on how Brown and Palmer demonstrate sisterhood.
As part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal program, thousands of Black workers joined the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Philip Hutchinson and Neil Humphrey explore how these men also engaged in transforming the American landscape and increased public access to the outdoors.
#Blackhistory
For college students hoping to join sororities all across the country, fall means rush season!
Professor Casarae Abdul-Ghani tells the story of the influential life of Norma Elizabeth Boyd, a founding member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.
#Blackwomen'shistory #Rushseason #Sorority
Meet Sister Rosetta Tharpe-- one of the most influential, if largely forgotten, creators of rock and roll. 🎸
By the age of six, she was touring with her mother throughout the South, singing and playing guitar, not just as an entertainer but as an evangelist.
#rockandroll #Blackhistory
As schoolchildren around the U.S. settle into a new school year, historian Kevin Boyle reminds us of the experiences of Black schoolchildren during the integration era, arguably the most radical turn of the civil rights revolution.
While the #MissAmerica competition concluded earlier this month, did you know that the Parkridge Country Club held a competition for "Miss Parkridge" in 1928?
Historian Dustin Meier tells the story of the fragile promise of African American recreational space in 1920s Los Angeles.