New Musical About Malcolm X Is Coming to the Met Opera
One of the latest productions from the Metropolitan Opera is going to be something great! The Metropolitan Opera has announced a new production in has in the works that is focused on the life of civil rights leader Malcolm X, NY 1 reports. “X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X,” is a story from […]
Meet Toni Harris, the First Woman to Receive a 4-Year College Football Scholarship
Toni can play with the best of them! Antoinette “Toni” Harris is a Detroit native who says she’s always been a fan of football. Since she was about 4 she can remember enjoying the sport — though she also grew to love cheerleading and track-and-field over the years. When she was in elementary school, she joined […]
Pearl Bowser, the Godmother of Black Independent Cinema, Has Joined the Ancestors
Pearl Bowser was an institution! Film historian, curator and luminary Pearl Bowser, affectionately known as the “Godmother of Black Independent Cinema,” passed away on September 14th at the age of 92, The New York Times reports. According to RogerEbert.com, Bowser was born Pearl Johnson in Harlem, New York, on June 25, 1931. Discovering her love […]
Philadelphia’s Oldest Black Bookstore From 1950s Officially Granted Historical Marker
Dawud Abdel Hakim founded Hakim’s Bookstore in 1959, with the goal of strengthening the African American community, The Grio reports. Initially selling books from the trunk of his car, Hakim eventually opened the first brick-and-mortar store in West Philadelphia during the height of the Black Power movement. Dedicated to his mission, Hakim was committed to […]
Laphonza Butler Makes History as Third Black Woman Ever to Serve in U.S. Senate
Laphonza Butler has officially been sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris after her history-making appointment to the U.S. Senate. Vice President Kamala Harris, the second Black woman to ever serve as a U.S. Senator, officiated the swearing in of Laphonza Butler on October 3. Butler is now making history as the third Black woman […]
Dr. Robert Kirk, the University of Tennessee’s First Black Professor, Has Joined the Ancestors
Professor Emeritus Robert “Bob” Kirk, the first Black professor to join the University of Tennessee at Knoxville’s full-time faculty, has passed away at the age of 92. A native of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Dr. Kirk developed a deep passion for education early, earning his bachelor’s degree in health and physical education from Fisk University in 1953, […]
Detroit’s Iconic Charles H. Wright Museum Set to Receive Nearly $2M in Federal Funding for Renovations
One of Detroit’s oldest independent African American history museums has received some exciting news! The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History was founded in 1965, named for Detroit-based OBGYN Dr. Charles H. Wright. The esteemed doctor was inspired by a World War II memorial to birth a type of “repository for African American […]
Film Academy to Present Howard University With Hattie McDaniel’s Replacement Oscar for ‘Gone With the Wind’
Hattie McDaniel’s Best Supporting Actress Oscar for “Gone With the Wind” is finally being replaced after it went missing over 50 years ago. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is going to donate the award in her honor to Howard University’s Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts next month. The ceremony is taking place […]
Dr. Constance Clayton, Philadelphia’s First Black and First Woman Superintendent, Has Joined the Ancestors
Constance Elaine Clayton was born in North Philadelphia in 1933 to Levi and Willabell Clayton, The Inquirer reports. A graduate of Girls’ High, she went on to earn degrees from Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania before starting her career as an educator. Clayton credited her affinity for learning to her mother and grandmother, […]
Black British Fashion Designers and Their Stories Are Being Celebrated at New Exhibition in London
London has opened a beautiful new exhibition to highlight the contributions Black British culture has made to U.K. fashion and design history. Titled The Missing Thread: Untold Stories of Black British Fashion, the exhibition is located at central London’s Somerset House. The Missing Thread, which opened on September 21, pays tribute to the influence of […]