Learn why an academic approach toward examining lingering effects of slavery has turned into a hot-button topic.
Category Archives: The Move Toward Freedom
150 Years Later, Myths Persist about the Emancipation Proclamation
What did the Emancipation Proclamation really do? Three myths about this document are addressed in this article, which was written for the 150th anniversary of its signing.
Boston Art Commission Votes To Remove Emancipation Memorial From Park Square
Learn why a sculpture inspired by the Emancipation Proclamation incited controversy that resulted in its removal.
‘Make Farmers Black Again’: African Americans Fight Discrimination To Own Farmland
After decades of land loss and lending discrimination Black American farmers struggle to reclaim the ability to sustain their ancestral farmlands.
Why Texas Still Celebrates Confederate Heroes Day
At the start of the 2021 Legislative session in the state of Texas, a bill was filed to end an outdated state holiday. Find out why it’s on the books at all.
Health Inequality Actually Is a “Black and White Issue”, Research Says
Over a century and a half after emancipation, why are Black Americans statistically more likely to suffer from health problems?
One Man’s Epic Quest to Visit Every Former Slave Dwelling in the United States
Joseph McGill, Jr., a descendant of slaves, has slept in 41 of the remaining slave dwellings so far. He hopes to bring awareness to the small buildings that housed slaves before the buildings all disappear.
America Has Tried Reparations Before. Here Is How it Went
Descendants of enslaved people may be entitled to reparations, but what can we learn from previous attempts to compensate people for a wrong?
Why the Black National Anthem is Lifting Every Voice to Sing
This song, endowed with its deep history of Black pride, speaks to the universal human condition.
The Black sorority that faced racism in the suffrage movement but refused to walk away
These African American women fought for decades against racism within their movement and took their rightful place in history.
The Courage And Ingenuity Of Freedom-Seeking Slaves In America
In their desperation, runaway slaves found creative ways to hide and escape. This article tells the stories of slaves who shipped themselves to freedom in crates and of others who found safe haven in the Great Dismal Swamp of North Carolina.
Frederick Douglass On How Slave Owners Used Food As A Weapon Of Control
This article examines some of Frederick Douglass’s writings in which he describes how slave owners made use of food (and hunger) as a way of manipulating their slaves.
Activist Ida B. Wells Gets Pulitzer Prize 137 Years After Refusing to Exit ‘Whites Only’ Train
Born a year before emancipation, journalist Ida B. Wells is getting some overdue recognition for her brave and powerful reporting on injustice.
What Does It Mean for America to Put Harriet Tubman on the $20 Bill?
The U.S. Treasury recently decided to put Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill. Click on this link to read a discussion by several writers and editors from The Atlantic about the significance of this change to American currency.
The Most “Realistic” Civil War Novel Was Written Three Decades After It Ended
Stephen Crane’s novel The Red Badge of Courage is so realistic that readers tend to assume it’s based on his own experiences in the war. Spoiler alert: It isn’t.
A Free Man’s Letter to A Former Slaveowner in 1865
In 1865, former slave Jourdon Anderson was asked to return to the farm where he had been held captive for 32 years. Read this article to learn more about Anderson’s witty, sarcastic response and to read excerpts from his letter.
Jefferson Davis Statue Comes Down at University of Texas
Jefferson Davis never asked for a pardon for leading the government of the Confederacy in its rebellion against the United States. Statues of the Confederate president have become increasingly controversial in recent years, including one that was removed from the campus of the University of Texas in 2015.
Buffalo Soldiers
Learn about some of the many accomplishments of the “buffalo soldiers,” 19th-century regiments of African American troops formed after the Civil War.
Crispus Attucks, Martyr for Freedom and Champion of Liberty
This article explains who Crispus Attucks was, what he did, and why he is still remembered today as a champion and a martyr for freedom.
St. Landry Parish Catholic School Reflecting on Role in Slavery
A Catholic school acknowledges its role in the slave trade and pays tribute to the slaves who worked on its property and their ancestors to bring recognition, respect, and a sense of closure to the pain caused by slavery.