By Sabrina Shanghie What if I told you the trendy cornrow styles of 2019 once served as a gateway to freedom for enslaved African Americans hundreds of years ago? In the past decade, many cultures have embraced the beauty of cornrows, including some who don’t understand the deep history that the style holds. Braids may…
By T’Keyah Hayes Betty Boop is widely recognized as one of the most notable cartoon characters and one of the first cartoonized American sex symbols. Her vocal trademark, “Boop Oop A Doop,” and her contoured figure in a form-fitting dress traces back to a black woman by the name of Esther Jones. Esther “Baby Esther”…
By Zadriuna Bridges Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, has become the day for love and all things that represent it. We spend our time planning the best dates and gifts, hoping to give our Valentine a perfect day. But how much did that perfect day cost us this year? According to Business Insider, $20.7 billion is…
February commemorates the annual celebration of Black History Month, which highlights the important contributions by people of African descent. Each year, however, we discover that there are many more black individuals and groups that significantly contributed to today’s world, yet remain unacknowledged in today’s history lessons. Black people have made (and continue to make) considerable…
By Kamilah Tom In the closing days of the midterm campaign, President Trump promised to make it no longer possible for children whose parents are not citizens of the United States to be citizens themselves just because they were born here. “We’re the only country in the world where a person comes in, has a…
By Alexa Imani Spencer Cathay Williams is history’s only known female Buffalo Soldier, according to the National Park Service. In 1866, she enlisted in the United States Army under the pseudonym “William Cathay,” becoming the first known black woman to enlist in the Army and the only documented African-American woman to serve as a soldier…
By Tyler Brady Chicago has been dubbed “Chiraq” by some because of its alarming violent crime rate and how often its citizens are either victims or perpetrators of murder. The nickname combines the names for the nation’s third-most populous city and the war-torn country of Iraq to suggest it is the most violent city in…
By Leanna Commins WASHINGTON – Edward Wilson, a mere 19, was one of several African-American crewmembers aboard the USS Conestoga when it mysteriously disappeared at sea after it departed March 25, 1921, from San Francisco for Hawaii. For nearly a century, what happened to the 56-member crew has been a puzzling footnote in U.S….
By Miesha Miller April Reign, who spearheaded the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag, will be live-tweeting “The Wood” with some of her 22,000 Twitter followers during the telecast of the 88th Academy Awards tonight. As part of a nationwide series of protests and “tune-outs,” the Rev. Al Sharpton plans to lead a rally outside the Dolby Theatre in…