Black History

Deyaha Moussa was a Muslim kidnapped in West Africa, purchased in Saint-Domingue by T.H. Perkins of the eponymous School for the Blind, and who witnessed the Haitian Revolution combust. Perkins’ brother trafficked Moussa to Boston in 1793. He died in 1831 and now rests anonymously in Mattapan under a giant Celtic cross.

Cuffy Rosaria deserves folk hero status in his Massachusetts hometown of Abington; he has the rare distinction of appearing both in a runaway slave ad and in Revolutionary War muster rolls.

Scores of unsung female heroes played a significant role in the movement for racial equality.

Meta Warrick Fuller gained fame in early 20th-century America as a gifted sculptor and painter. She also wrote poetry and was a multitalented theater designer, director and playwright.

Originally founded as Negro History Week by the noted historian Carter G. Woodson and others, the month carries with it an annual theme designated by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. This year’s theme is Black Health and Wellness, and it’s keyed to exploring more deeply both the diaspora’s access disparities and unique challenges, while also celebrating Black pioneers in medicine.

Rising 30 feet above the Tidal Basin in Washington D.C. is a granite statue of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. that memorializes the man and his role in the American civil rights movement

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s words continue to inspire more than 50 years after his death

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was a staunch believer that violence was not the way to resist injustice

When Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger issued General Orders, Number 3 and thus emancipating the slaves of Texas on June 19, 1865, he had no idea that he was also establishing the basis for a holiday, “Juneteenth” (“June” plus “Nineteenth”), today the most popular annual celebration of emancipation from slavery in the United States.

Recent attention on the Tulsa massacre included a visit this week by President Joe Biden, Congressional hearings on reparations to the victims and their families, nationally covered commemoration ceremonies and a broader reckoning of the incident in the context of a national conversation about narrowing the racial wealth gap.