The Journal
Stories from Black history.
Companion articles to The History of Black History, Vol. 1 — the people, places, and turning points behind the book. New stories added regularly.
Sojourner Truth and the Power of "Ain't I a Woman?"
In the spring of 1851, a tall, commanding woman rose from her seat in a crowded Akron church and, without a single written note, delivered words that would echo through two centuries of American struggle. Her name was Sojourner Truth — and she had already survived enough to fill a dozen lifetimes.
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Frederick Douglass: The Voice of the Enslaved
He taught himself to read, escaped slavery, and became the most powerful abolitionist voice of his century.
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Mansa Musa & the Golden Empires of Africa
Long before the transatlantic trade, Mali and Songhai built centers of wealth and learning that dazzled the medieval world.
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The Haitian Revolution: How the Enslaved Defeated an Empire
In 1791, the people of Saint-Domingue did what the world called impossible — and built the first free Black republic.
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Harriet Tubman & the Underground Railroad
She escaped slavery — then returned, again and again, to lead others to freedom along a secret road north.
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