African Americans still suffer from systemic discrimination, and the country’s “war on drugs” is chiefly to blame. Police disproportionately search young black men, and are much more likely to imprison them for nonviolent drug offenses. On release, they often can’t find work because of stringent background checks. This process deprives...

The records left by the Freedmen's Bureau through its work between 1865 and 1872 constitute the richest and most extensive documentary source available for investigating the African American experience in the post-Civil War and Reconstruction eras. Historians have used these materials to explore government and military policies, local...

Tour the Jim Crow museum with founder and curator, Dr. David Pilgrim. Dr. Pilgrim discusses some of the major themes of the Jim Crow Museum. Jim Crow was not just a character or a set of "laws", it was a system that built upon itself to create and sustain a society with a racial hierarchy.

Equal Justice Initiative believes that in order to heal the wounds from our present, we must face our past. Our history of racial terror casts a shadow across the U.S. landscape. We must engage it more honestly. LEARN MORE: Explore Children in Adult Prisons, Excessive Punishment, the need for Sentencing Reform, and the urgent need to confront...

Unlike other plantations only two slaves were ever sold from Wessyngton, resulting in several generations of enslaved family members living and laboring together. The culmination of more than thirty years of research, it details the lives of hundreds of his family members. Baker spent decades combing through countless family and state archives,...

The documentary 5 Generations: From Enslavement to Public Service in Atlanta is a commemoration of the achievements of five generations of African American women in the Metro Atlanta area from Reconstruction through the 20th century. By exploring genealogy, family lore, and historic documentation, viewers will become familiar with various...

The International African American Museum will be built on perhaps the most sacred ground in all of African American history. It will be on the former Gadsden's Wharf; the spot where the greatest number of Africans who came to America took their very first steps on continental USA. Here, IAAM CEO Michael Boulware Moore shares his personal...

Kwanzaa is unaffiliated with a major religion. Kwanzaa marks a time for African Americans to reflect on their heritage, their community and their connection to Africa. Arguably, the biggest misconception about Kwanzaa is that only African Americans may participate in the event , individuals of all racial backgrounds may take part. Explore the...

As NASA honors the contributions of African Americans to the cause of spaceflight and space exploration, NASA Commentator Pat Ryan talks with astronaut Victor Glover about the past, present and future of African Americans in the nation’s space exploration effort.

Administrator Charles Bolden talks of the contributions to the space program made by African Americans, including Guy Bluford, the first black man in space; the first African American woman in space; and Fred Gregory, the first black to pilot and command a space shuttle mission.

How did the NAACP (the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) get its start? What needs and issues does it address, and what has it accomplished since it was founded in 1909? The vision of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is to ensure a society in which all individuals have equal rights without...

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