On Feb. 7, 1926, Carter G. Woodson, initiated the first celebration of Negro History Week which led to Black History Month, to extend and deepen the study and scholarship on African American history, all year long. Here is an essay on the history and purpose of Black History Month, followed by recommended articles and resources on Black history.
Read MoreOn this day that America loves to memorialize the great leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we at The Melanin Project would like to highlight the Man in his wholeness. From his philosophy of non-violent protest that America loves so much, to his self-revelation of leading us into “a burning house”. (United States of America) It is well documented that those around Dr. Martin Luther King were armed to the teeth and were more than prepared to protect the civil rights leader. Most known for his Dream Speech at the Capitol, there are many other speeches that detail the thought and radical approach to Dr. King’s aspirations for this country as well as his people. Most notable of those speeches was his talk of “The Other America”. The Capitol Riots in comparison to the Black Lives Matter riots just months earlier show case and point that there is very little difference from the 60’s to nearly 70 years later how America as a whole doesn’t see African Diaspora as equal culturally, monetarily, or legally.
Read MoreThis is Haitian Professor Bayyinah Bello’s full lecture on the Haitian Revolution of 1791. Led by Dutty Boukman, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Toussaint Louverture the revolution toppled one of the greatest empires known to man and change the course of history.
Bayyinah Bello is a Haitian historian, teacher, writer, and humanitarian worker, who in her earlier career spent 15 years living and traveling in West Africa, including four years in Nigeria, as well as in Benin, Togo, and other countries in the region.
Read MoreIn 1973, journalist Tony Brown hosted a “Black Journal” television special featuring the time’s most prominent Black leaders. Audiences were tuned into a roundtable that included thought leaders such as Kwame Ture, formerly known as Stokely Carmichael; Fannie Lou Hamer, and Angela Davis. Other voices included politicians such as Congressman Louis Stokes, then of the Congressional Black Caucus; and Manhattan Borough President Percy Sutton while organizations such as the National Business League, National Urban League, and NAACP were represented by Berkeley G. Burrell and James D. Williams, respectively.
Read MoreIn November of 1971, fifteen months after his remarkable conversation with Margaret Meadabout race and identity, James Baldwin sat down with another extraordinary woman, the poet Nikki Giovanni, for another conversation of astonishing timeliness today. The event was hosted by the PBS television series SOUL! and took place in London. Baldwin was forty-six and Giovanni only twenty-eight. For hours of absolute presence, intellectual communion, and occasional respectful rebuttal, they explored justice, freedom, morality, and what it means to be an empowered human being. The transcript was eventually published as A Dialogue
Read MoreIn 1960, Charles Edward Anderson earned a Ph.D. in Meteorology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Massachusetts. Charles Edward Anderson the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in Meteorology; died today.
Read MoreJohn Chavis, early 19th Century minister and teacher, was the first African American to graduate from a college or university in the United States. Chavis was born on October 18, 1763.
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