Category Archives: articles

The hard-won advancements of civil rights were made possible by the struggle, commitment, and work of people who stood up to discrimination and white supremacy. We look to these heroes from our past for lessons and inspiration as we continue their important work into the future. W.E.B. DU BOIS W.E.B. Du Bois was a foundingContinue reading “CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS”

American artist David Hammons once commented that “outrageously magical things happen when you mess around with a symbol.”1 For the past 50 years, Hammons has created a vocabulary of symbols from everyday life and messed around with them in the form of prints, drawings, performances, video, found-object sculptures, and paintings. Many of the results have indeedContinue reading “David Hammons”

Black Celebrities of the Civil Rights Movement The postwar years were the era of the integration of America’s professional sports. Jackie Robinson, Althea Gibson, Bill Willis and others became household names. Beyond sports, black movie stars made had significant cultural milestones during the decade, while television appearances remained typed and relatively rare. Music, particularly rock and roll,Continue reading “Black Celebrities of the Civil Rights Movement”

Every Black actor and actress, director and comedian stands on the shoulders of those who paved the way for future generations.  In honor of Black History Month, ET is celebrating some of the pioneers who made history in TV and film.  1. Cicely Tyson Cicely Tyson released Just As I Am: A Memoir just three days before her death on Jan.Continue reading “13 Black Actors, Directors and Comedians Who Made History in TV and Film”

Folk artist 1887–1988 Hunter lived and worked most of her life on the Melrose cotton plantation near Natchitoches, Louisiana. She did not start painting until the 1940s when she was already a grandmother. Her first painting, executed on a window shade using paints left behind by a plantation visitor, depicts a baptism in Cane River.Continue reading “Clementine Hunter”

The country’s first major Black filmmaker, Oscar Micheaux (sometimes written as “Michaux”), directed and produced 44 films over the course of his career. Throughout the first half of the 20th century Micheaux depicted contemporary Black life and complex characters in his films, countering the negative on-screen portrayal of Blacks at the time. HOMESTEADING ON THEContinue reading “OSCAR MICHEAUX”

by Rev. Dr. JoAnn Watson Dr. Dorothy Irene Height, like Ella Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer, Dorrie and Joyce Ladner, Gloria Hayes Richardson, Claudia House Morcom, Anna Diggs Taylor, and countless other women, played important roles during the 60’s Civil Rights Movement; but their names and their sacrifices are consistently, persistently, and unapologetically excluded from historicalContinue reading “Commentary: History Must Correct The Record About “The Big 6” Who Planned ‘63 March On Washington”

Artist Loïs Mailou Jones 1905–1998 Jones was raised in Boston by working-class parents who emphasized the importance of education and hard work. After graduating from Boston’s School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Jones began designing textiles for several New York firms. She left in 1928 to take a teaching position at Palmer Memorial InstituteContinue reading “Lois Mailou Jones”

Painter Kadir Nelson (b. 1974) is an award-winning American author and artist based in Los Angeles, California. His paintings are in the permanent collections of several notable institutions including the United States House of Representatives, the Muskegon Museum of Art, The National Baseball Hall of Fame, United States Postal Museum, the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne,Continue reading “Kadir Nelson”

American Sculptor Elizabeth Catlett 1915–2012 The granddaughter of former slaves, Catlett was raised in Washington, D.C. Her father died before she was born and her mother held several jobs to raise three children. Refused admission to Carnegie Institute of Technology because of her race, Catlett enrolled at Howard University, where her teachers included artist Loïs MailouContinue reading “Elizabeth Catlett”