Nadra Kareem Nittle Archives ‑ History.com

Maya Angelou Thrived in Multiple Careers Before Becoming a Writer

When Maya Angelou published 1969’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, the bestselling autobiography that would be adapted into a television movie and make her a household name, she was already in her 40s with a variety of career experiences. Angelou was an actor, dancer, activist and journalist, to name but a few of the […]

How the Warren Court Expanded Civil Rights in America

When Earl Warren was sworn in as the 14th chief justice of the Supreme Court on October 4, 1953, the United States was on the brink of transition. The civil rights movement hadn’t officially started, but members of marginalized groups were already mobilizing for racial and economic justice. In the 1940s, both the armed forces […]

The Short‑Lived Promise of ’40 Acres and a Mule’

“What do you want for your own people?” That’s the question Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton suggested Union General William T. Sherman pose to 20 Black pastors in Savannah, Georgia, as the Civil War neared its end and enslaved African Americans neared freedom. The Black leaders gathered for the January 12, 1865, meeting with […]

The 1906 Atlanta Race Massacre: How Fearmongering Led to Violence

As African Americans achieved economic success in Atlanta in the early 1900s, the city simmered with racial strife that was further inflamed by yellow journalism.

MLK’s Poor People’s Campaign Demanded Economic Justice

Martin Luther King Jr.’s Poor People’s Campaign took protest to a whole new level in 1968 with a tent city that operated as a town.

Why Black American Athletes Raised Their Fists at the 1968 Olympics

Wearing beads and scarves to oppose lynchings and black socks with no shoes to highlight poverty, African American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos took to the podium during the October 16, 1968, Olympic medal ceremony in Mexico City to receive their respective gold and bronze medals in the 200‑meter race. But it was a […]

Black Women Who Have Run for President

When Kamala Harris entered the 2020 U.S. presidential race, she chose campaign materials with a sleek typeface and red‑and‑yellow color scheme that mirrored those of the late politician Shirley Chisholm, who made history in 1972 after becoming the first Black woman to compete for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. Although neither Chisholm nor Harris won […]

Shirley Chisholm: Facts About Her Trailblazing Career

Shirley Chisholm is widely known for her history‑making turn in 1972 when she became the first African American from a major political party to run for president and the first Democratic woman of any race to do so. But Chisholm’s presidential bid was far from Chisholm’s only accomplishment throughout her 80‑year life. Born Shirley Anita […]

How the Black Codes Limited African American Progress After the Civil War

When slavery ended in the United States, freedom still eluded African Americans who were contending with the repressive set of laws known as the black codes. Widely enacted throughout the South following the Civil War—a period called Reconstruction—these laws both limited the rights of Black people and exploited them as a labor source. In fact, […]

How the Greensboro Four Sit‑In Sparked a Movement

On February 1, 1960, four Black college freshmen, Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr. and David Richmond, sat down at a “whites‑only” Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C. and politely asked for service. The white waiter refused and suggested they order a take‑out meal from the “stand‑up” counter. But the students did not budge. […]