This collection helps students connect African American history to today’s current events. It also contains a webinar exploring the early civil rights movement with our partners at New American History.
Shirley Chisholm Was a Trailblazer for Change
In 1972, Shirley Chisholm made history as the first Black woman to run for U.S. president. This video chronicles Chisholm’s journey from Brooklyn to Capitol Hill, where, as the first Black woman elected to Congress, she overcame sexism and racism as an outspoken advocate for racial equality, women’s rights and social justice.
Beyond the Battlefield: Double V and Black Americans’ Fight for Equality
A civil rights initiative during World War II known as the Double V campaign advocated for dual victories: over fascism abroad, and racial injustice in the United States. The campaign, launched by an influential Black newspaper, called out discrimination and segregation faced by Black workers and military personnel.
How Racial Propaganda was Used Against the United States in World War II
This excerpt from “Silence in Sikeston” explores the history of anti-lynching efforts in the U.S., and the failure by federal prosecutors to bring to justice anyone in the mob responsible for killing Cleo Wright in 1942.
The Lasting Impact of a Lynching
This excerpt from “Silence in Sikeson” examines the lynching of Cleo Wright in 1942. It is a window into the history of racial violence in the United States, its societal implications and its lasting effects on communities.
How Black Women Fought Racism and Sexism for the Right to Vote
For decades, many African-American women remained disenfranchised, despite having played a significant role in the struggle to gain the vote. Just a few of the obstacles they faced: State laws. Poll taxes. Grandfather clauses. Literacy tests. Whites-only primaries.
Athletes vs. Injustice: Protests in Sports
When N.F.L. players starting with Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem to protest police mistreatment of African-Americans, their actions ignited an uproar over injecting politics onto the playing field. The protest had surprising ties to the silent black-power salute by two sprinters at the 1968 Olympics.
Why Are Schools Still Segregated? The Broken Promise of Brown v. Board of Education
Busing seemed a logical way to implement the long overdue promise of school desegregation envisioned by the Supreme Court in its ruling in Brown v. Board of Education more than 15 years earlier. But implementation turned out to be unexpectedly complicated.
Whites-Only Suburbs: How the New Deal Shut Out Black Homebuyers
Race-based federal lending rules from New Deal programs in the 1930s kept Black families locked out of suburban neighborhoods, a policy that continues to slow their economic mobility.
Ida B. Wells and the Long Crusade to Outlaw Lynching
Born into slavery, Ida B. Wells later became an educator, an investigative journalist and an early civil rights activist, shedding light on the plight of Black Americans across the South. After the brutal deaths of friends who were victims of lynching, Wells began chronicling mob violence, publishing her findings in newspapers and pamphlets.
How Geography Drove MLK’s Fight for a Ferry in Alabama
Weeks before Selma’s Bloody Sunday in 1965, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. urged residents of Gee’s Bend, Ala., to vote, and fed a continuing fight over a small ferry that would last for decades.
Lessons from the 2004 Democratic Convention: Obama’s Speech
In 2004, a state senator from Illinois turned the convention stage into a launch pad. Barack Obama’s speech that night would transform the arc of American politics and catapult him to the White House just four years later.
Racial Inequality Was Tearing the U.S. Apart, a 1968 Report Warned. It Was Ignored.
Anger over policing and inequality boiled over in 1967 in protests and violence across the United States. A 1968 landmark report from the Kerner Commission warned that without major changes, it would happen again.
American Reckoning Collection
“American Reckoning” is produced in collaboration with PBS Frontline. This education collection includes excerpts from the full hour, which uncovers an untold story of the civil rights movement and Black resistance to racist violence.
What Jesse Owens’s Story Tells Us About Sports and Politics
N.F.L. players have been derided for injecting politics into the country’s favorite sport. But, when convenient, America has also celebrated black athletes for acting as political emissaries.
The Birth of Free Agency
The drama of modern free agency has become as much a part of professional sports as the games themselves. But it wasn’t always that way. Today’s free agents owe a big debt of gratitude to Curt Flood, who invoked the spirit of the civil rights movement by putting the power dynamic of America’s sports on trial, both in the court of law and of public opinion.
Louis Armstrong And The Black Celebrity’s Dilemma
As America’s jazz icon, Louis Armstrong was seen as a smiling, easygoing entertainer. But in 1957, he invited controversy by speaking forcefully on behalf of his fellow African Americans, putting him in a position familiar to many Black athletes today.
Black Swimmers Overcome Racism and Fear, Reclaiming a Tradition
Decades of segregation, discrimination and lack of access have led to an alarming disparity: Black children today drown in swimming pools at a rate far higher than that of white children, studies have shown. Now new programs are working to overcome barriers and get everybody into the pool.
Road to Civil Rights Webinar
This webinar explores the early civil rights movement with our partners at New American History. It spotlights free resources, including short films, lesson plans and interactives.
