What the Fugitive Slave Act Teaches Us About How States Can Resist Oppressive Federal Power What the Fugitive Slave Act Teaches Us About How States Can Resist Oppressive Federal Power
The actions of attorneys general in California and other states have their antecedents in the fight against that draconian law.
Feb 8, 2017 / Editorial / Eric Foner
Michelle Obama, Between Respectability and Radicalism Michelle Obama, Between Respectability and Radicalism
While we took pride in the first lady, activists changed what she could do.
Dec 14, 2016 / Feature / Joelle Gamble
How to Understand the Struggle for Black Freedom After Emancipation How to Understand the Struggle for Black Freedom After Emancipation
Five important books tell the tale.
Nov 30, 2016 / 5 Books / Erica Armstrong Dunbar
Washington’s New African-American Museum Shows How Black History Shaped the American Experience Washington’s New African-American Museum Shows How Black History Shaped the American Experience
The most recent and cutting-edge scholarship informs the exhibits.
Nov 30, 2016 / Feature / Erica Armstrong Dunbar
Four Standouts From the New York Film Festival Four Standouts From the New York Film Festival
I Am Not Your Negro, Moonlight, 13th, and I Called Him Morgan.
Oct 18, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans
Ava DuVernay Reminds Us: The Past Must Be Present in Criminal-Justice Reform Ava DuVernay Reminds Us: The Past Must Be Present in Criminal-Justice Reform
Her new documentary explains how the “slavery loophole” perpetuates racial disparities in mass incarceration.
Oct 11, 2016 / Khalil Gibran Muhammad
‘The Birth of a Nation’ Is an Epic Fail ‘The Birth of a Nation’ Is an Epic Fail
From its depictions of black women to the representation of slavery itself, Nate Parker’s film is deeply flawed and historically inaccurate.
Oct 6, 2016 / Leslie M. Alexander
Black as We Wanna Be Black as We Wanna Be
Trying to remedy racism on its own intellectual terrain is like trying to extinguish a fire by striking another match. The fiction must be unbelieved, the fire stamped out.
Sep 15, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Matthew McKnight
Who Freed the Slaves? Who Freed the Slaves?
For some time now, the answer has not been the abolitionists.
Sep 13, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Stephanie McCurry
Leaving Home to Go Home Leaving Home to Go Home
Yaa Gyasi’s ideas about fiction are suffused with her lifelong attention to the fluctuating shadows that race casts on American life.
Aug 12, 2016 / Erin Vanderhoof