African-American History Topics

Democracy Now! stories, posts and pages that relate to African-American History

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NAACP Head Benjamin Jealous in Geneva Seeking United Nations Help to Protect Voting Rights in U.S.

Since last year, 15 states have passed new voting laws that critics say suppress the votes of the poor, students and people of color. This is the topic of a major speech set for today by NAACP head Benjamin Jealous before the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. The NAACP wants a U.N. delegation of experts to monitor the impact of voter identification laws, as well new restrictions on same-day registration, early voting, Sunday voting,...
Mar 13, 2012 | Story
Rep. Donald Payne (1934–2012): Remembering New Jersey's First African-American Member of Congress

Representative Donald Payne, the first-ever African-American congressman from New Jersey, died Tuesday at the age of 77 from complications of colon cancer. The former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus was in his 12th term in the House. In 1988, Payne explained his desire to break the color line in Congress, saying, "I want to be a congressman to serve as a role model for the young people I talk to on the Newark street corners…...
Mar 07, 2012 | Story
Despite Rep for Integration, TV's Iconic "American Bandstand" Kept Black Teens Off Its Stage

Last month the pioneering TV broadcaster Don Cornelius died at the age of 75. As the host of "Soul Train," many obituaries described Cornelius as the "African-American Dick Clark," the legendary host of the popular TV show, "American Bandstand," from 1956 to 1989. Clark claimed the show, which was originally hosted in West Philadelphia before moving to Hollywood, was "one of the first integrated shows on national...
Mar 02, 2012 | Story
Redefining Black Power: Pacifica Archives & City Lights Books Reflect on the State of Black America

Amy Goodman interviews Joanne Griffith, the editor of "Redefining Black Power: Reflections on the State of Black America," a new book partly inspired by some of the Pacifica Radio Archives’ historic recordings. [includes rush transcript]
Feb 29, 2012 | Web Exclusive
Whitney Houston Remembered for Unprecedented Crossover Success

The music world continues to pay tribute to pop superstar Whitney Houston following her death on Saturday at the age of 48. She was honored at last night’s Grammy Awards by host LL Cool J and Jennifer Hudson. "She is part of a generation of what I called 'black pop crossover artists,' that would include Eddie Murphy, the late Michael Jackson, and even basketball player Michael Jordan, in that they had unprecedented amount of...
Feb 13, 2012 | Story
Black Power on TV: How "Soul Train" Host Don Cornelius (1936-2012) Reshaped Independent Black Media

Whitney Houston is just the latest cultural icon to pass away during this year’s Black History Month. On February 1, "Soul Train" host Don Cornelius was found dead at his home in Los Angeles, in what appeared to be a suicide. Cornelius brought black music and culture into America’s living rooms through his dance show, "Soul Train," one of the longest-running syndicated shows in television history, and played a critical...
Feb 13, 2012 | Story
SPECIAL: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in His Own Words

Today is the federal holiday that honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was born January 15th, 1929. He was assassinated April 4, 1968, at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was just 39 years old. While Dr. King is primarily remembered as a civil rights leader, he also championed the cause of the poor and organized the Poor People’s Campaign to address issues of economic justice. Dr. King was also a fierce critic of U.S. foreign policy...
Jan 16, 2012 | Story
"Memory is the Active Agent of Collective Social Progress": Randall Robinson on His New Novel Makeda

"Makeda," the new novel by TransAfrica founder Randall Robinson, is set at the dawn of the civil rights era. The book follows a young man coming of age in segregated Richmond, Virginia, who discovers his roots in Africa through his blind grandmother. "Sometimes when we think of slavery, we calculate the economic consequence of it," Robinson says. "But we have not calculated the psychosocial consequence of it, unless we...
Jan 13, 2012 | Story
On Eve of MLK Day, Michelle Alexander & Randall Robinson on the Mass Incarceration of Black America

On this eve of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, we host a wide-ranging discussion with TransAfrica founder Randall Robinson and author Michelle Alexander about the mass incarceration of African Americans that has rolled back many achievements of the civil rights movement. Today there are more African Americans under correctional control, whether in prison or jail, on probation or on parole, than there were enslaved in 1850. And more...
Jan 13, 2012 | Story
How New Hampshire Became Last U.S. State to Recognize MLK Day Holiday

Ahead of the Monday holiday celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr., we speak with two people key to establishing the day as a paid state holiday in New Hampshire—the last state to do so—replacing its optional Civil Rights Day in 1999. "I look at Mitt Romney talking about saving the soul of America and recall that the motto of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference was 'to redeem the soul of America,'" says Arnie Alpert,...
Jan 11, 2012 | Story