The senators in power after the Civil War had to settle a fundamental question when it came to seating Hiram R. Revels, the first black senator-elect, in 1870: Was it too soon, according to the Constitution, for any black man to be legally entitled to serve?

Seven common myths about the Underground Railroad, and how they have sometimes overwhelmed historical facts.

Spanish Florida was the African-American slaves’ first Promised Land.

Who was the Plessy in the Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court case that established the separate-but-equal policy for separating the races?

As a literary scholar and cultural historian who has spent a lifetime searching out African Americans' lost, forgotten and otherwise unheralded tales, I was honored to serve as a historical consultant on Steve McQueen's "12 Years a Slave," most certainly one of the most vivid and authentic portrayals of slavery ever captured in a feature film.