James Van Der Zee: Portraitist of Black Harlem’s Renaissance
James Van Der Zee was a renowned African American photographer and a central figure of the Harlem Renaissance, celebrated for his evocative portraiture. Over his...
Category : African American
Hubert Henry Harrison: Father of Harlem Radicalism
Hubert Henry Harrison (1883–1927) was a towering Caribbean-born intellectual, agitator, and educator whose life forces us to rethink the origins of Harlem radicalism, the New...
Ten “Know Thy Self” Quotes by Na’im Akbar
No Black history library or book collection is complete without a work by Dr. Na’im Akbar. In addition to being a critical, insightful, and authoritative...
A Free Black Man in Captivity: Reflections of Mumia Abu-Jamal
“I am a thinker, writer, activist, creative being, man, dad, husband, grandpop, and son. But just to keep it simple: I’m a free Black man living in...
THE URBAN SHAMAN: AN INTERVIEW WITH ELLIOTT RIVERA
“Afrikans are in bondage today because they approach spirituality through religion provided by foreign invaders and conquerors.” ~Haile Selassie I Elliot Rivera, known as the...
Mary Annette Anderson: The first African American woman elected to Phi Beta Kappa
“The sunshine of her life she gives, To everything around her, Though brief the season that she lives Nor lost is her endeavor. She is...
Gwendolyn B. Bennett: The Harlem Renaissance Writer and Painter
Gwendolyn B. Bennett was an African-American poet, essayist, short-story writer, and artist. Although she never published her own volume of poetry, she was one of...
Marie Couvent: A Controversial African-American Philanthropist
“Marie Couvent was the first [Black] woman to set the example of an enlightened charity, and that for a long time she was the only...
Zelda Wynn Valdes: The Creator of the Playboy Bunny Costume
“I just had a God-given talent for making people beautiful…” Zelda Wynn Valdes was a fashion legend who was the first African-American designer to open...
Lucille Clifton: The Award-winning Poet
“I write to celebrate life.” “I would like to be seen as a woman whose roots go back to Africa, who tried to honor being...