Breaking News! History in the Making

Carrie Mae Weems smiles and poses with left hand resting on her chin.

Carrie Mae Weems Awarded 2024 National Medal of Arts

Artist and photographer Carrie Mae Weems is the first Black female visual artist to receive the prestigious honor of a National Medal of Arts.

Mati Diop photographed in London by David Levene for the Observer New Review, October 2024.

‘I felt this film was my duty’: director Mati Diop on Dahomey, about the return of looted African treasures

French-Senegalese film-maker Mati Diop speaks on her new award winning film, Dahomey. Told through the point of view of an African mask, Diop’s film illustrates the return of looted items from Dahomey, now Benin, by the French government.

The Message

In “The Message,” Ta-Nehisi Coates delivers a fiery secular sermon

Ta-Nehisi Coates released a collection of essays, including several about his recent trip to the war-torn West Bank.

Tyrone Phillips

Humanity and history: a Q&A with “Nat Turner in Jerusalem” director Tyrone Phillips

Tyrone Phillips talks to reporter Robert Chappell about the importance of telling this historical narrative through a Black lens.

Sketch of a Black preacher, circa 1850s.

Who were the United Socialists: The Black anarchist squatters you’ve never heard of

In the early 1900s, Black freedmen combined fringe religion and radical politics into a utopian vision of Oklahoma

Beyond Black Beauty

‘Beyond Black Beauty’ brings together an 1877 classic novel and a Black family in Baltimore

A new take on a classic tale will soon come to Amazon, showing the relationship between horses and their Black owners.

shopping

Telling the Stories of Wrongful Convictions, One Painstaking Case at a Time

In “Framed,” an advocate for the wrongly accused joins forces with John Grisham to tell stories of justice denied.

Durham, North Carolina, Mayor Leonardo Williams (left) takes a selfie with Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris as she arrives at Raleigh-Durham International Airport in Morrisville on Saturday.
Steve Helber via Associated Press

Kamala Harris’ New Economic Agenda Reveals What She Would Do To Help Black Men

Vice President Kamala Harris unveiled a list of campaign policies to increase opportunities and business ventures for Black men.

Black students in a classroom

Zero Math Proficiency: The National Impact on Black Students

Multiple factors have led to a frustrating lack of math proficiency by students at Baltimore public schools.

La'Tannya Banks

One year later, California’s system to find missing Black people is working through its challenges

While California implemented a system to track missing Black persons, who are often overlooked, there are still wrinkles to iron out.

Two Black men, in tuxedos, clasp hands and dance in a smoky foreground in a scene from "Looking for Langston," the 1989 film that reevaluated gay and lesbian contributions to the Harlem Renaissance.

When Harlem Was ‘as Gay as It Was Black’

Harlem welcomed those who were outcasts in other parts of society, becoming home to unique entertainment and culture.

Colman Domingo will co-chair the 2025 Met Gala which celebrates the Costume Institute's exhibition on the Black dandy. (Malike Sidibe for The Washington Post)

The 2025 Met Gala will honor the Black dandy and all his complications

The upcoming Met Gala will make history when stars grace the carpet in artistic fashions that recognize Black style.

President Joe Biden speaks about student loan debt forgiveness in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Aug. 24, 2022, in Washington. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona listens at right. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, file)

This New Biden Rule Means Healthier Water for Black Communities

Part of President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan will help disadvantaged communities get better drinking water by replacing lead pipes.

Ernie Hudson

‘Ghostbusters’ Star Ernie Hudson Just Made RSV Vaccines Sexy  

The celebrated actor sat down with Word in Black to discuss the importance of the RSC vaccine for Black health.

Keturah Johnson, international vice president for flight attendant union AFA-CWA, poses by a decades old, outdated poster with rules and uniforms for flight attendants, at her headquarters office, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)

More Black and Latina women are leading unions — and transforming how they work

Black and Latina women are landing top positions at some of the biggest unions in the United States. Tackling both racism and sexism in their careers is motivating them to continue to step up as union leaders.

Risking Everything - We Want to Vote image

New Virtual Gallery: Risking Everything, The Fight for Black Voting Rights

The fight for Black voting rights can be explored through virtual and physical exhibits, as well as ABHM’s book club.

Angela D. Alsobrooks (D), candidate for U.S. Senate in Maryland; Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), who is running for a U.S. Senate seat; and Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.) during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s conference. (Courtesy of Lisa Blunt Rochester campaign)

The ‘pragmatic optimist’ set to make history in a divided Senate

Lisa Blunt Rochester is committed to become Delaware’s first Black woman in Congress.

The white supremacist group, The Patriot Front, in Boston in 2022. (Stuart Cahill / MediaNews via Getty Images file)

Black man details alleged beating at the hands of a white supremacist group in Boston

Charles Murrell III is suing a white supremacist group for damages and he claims they assaulted him in 2022.

In September 1992, thousands of off-duty police officers descended on City Hall to protest reforms proposed by Mayor David N. Dinkins, the city’s first Black mayor. (Keith Meyers/The New York Times)

Why Eric Adams Is Nothing Like David Dinkins

Comparisons between New York’s first and second Black mayor equate one’s corruption with the racism the other faced.

John Lewis during a sit-in in Nashville in 1964. (Danny Lyon/Magnum Photos)

How John Lewis Became a Moral Force in America

David Greenberg published a narrative about John Lewis’ life as an activist and later, in American politics.

Anisa Nyell Johnson as Detective Shaker, left, and Shanola Hampton as Gabi Mosley in NBC's "Found." (Matt Miller / NBC)

‘Found’ brings missing marginalized people into the spotlight

“Found” tells the story of a Black woman whose sister was kidnapped, an experience all too familiar to Black families.