Apr 23 Watch 4:55 How the autobiography of a Muslim slave is challenging an American narrative By Amna Nawaz, Leah Nagy Omar Ibn Said was 37 years old when he was taken from his West African home and transported to Charleston, South Carolina, as a slave in the 1800s. Now, his one-of-a-kind autobiographical manuscript has been translated from its original Arabic… Continue watching
Apr 13 Watch 9:38 The hunt is on for the last slave ship to arrive in the U.S. By Megan Thompson, Mori Rothman Archaeologists are analyzing data from a survey of Alabama’s Mobile River, looking for the Clotilda, the last known slave ship to arrive in America. The ship's survivors were enslaved for a few years before forming a unique community, Africatown. Clotilda… Continue watching
Apr 12 Watch 7:57 What 2020 Democrats think about reparations As Democrats gear up for a competitive 2020 presidential campaign, the potentially divisive and fraught issue of reparations for slavery has surfaced as a prominent issue. How has this topic, which hasn’t always been part of the national political conversation,… Continue watching
Mar 20 Harvard profited from photos of slaves, descendant says in lawsuit By Collin Binkley, Associated Press Tamara Lanier is suing the Ivy League school for "wrongful seizure, possession and expropriation" of images she says depict two of her ancestors. Continue reading
Dec 09 I dig through archives to unearth hidden stories from African-American history By Jane Landers, The Conversation The Slave Societies Digital Archive has documented the lives of approximately 6 million free and enslaved Africans, their descendants, and the indigenous, European and Asian people with whom they interacted. Continue reading
Sep 12 South Carolina slave descendants used to riding out storms By Russ Bynum, Associated Press "If Mama won't leave, most folks aren't going to leave."… Continue reading
Aug 01 Watch 8:06 Unearthing Sally Hemings' legacy at Monticello By Jeffrey Brown Visitors have long come to Monticello to see and admire Thomas Jefferson's mansion, but a new silhouette and exhibition bring a largely hidden life into the open. No portrait exists of Sally Hemings, an enslaved woman who had a decades-long… Continue watching
Aug 01 'American history is a crazy-quilt experience': Monticello descendants talk ancestry and race By Anne Azzi Davenport, Alison Thoet In a long-anticipated move, signage, tours and public statements at Thomas Jefferson's historical Monticello estate now indicate without a doubt that Jefferson fathered the six children of enslaved woman Sally Hemings, and offer new insight into their lives. Jeffrey Brown… Continue reading
Jan 19 How a massive database could help people find their enslaved ancestors By Rashmi Shivni To help families and scholars, search for enslaved individuals and their descendants, Michigan State University researchers are launching a new project called "Enslaved: The People of the Historic Slave Trade."… Continue reading
Nov 10 This South African poet is helping a Maryland church protect a historic black cemetery By Andrew Bossone Members of the Macedonia Baptist Church in Bethesda, Maryland, believe the remains of some of the first freed African Americans are buried under ground nearby. Continue reading