BLACK HISTORY

Currently there are less than 150 professional Black women pilots in the U.S. that hold airline transport pilot, commercial, military or certificated flight instructor certificates. These women make up less than 1% of all professional pilots in the U.S. In this post, I want to honor some of the most...

If you were asked to conjure a mental image of a rock star, what would you imagine? Would you see a skinny, shaggy-haired man in a tank top shredding a solo on an electric guitar? Perhaps you’d see someone in tight pants and bombastic clothing belting their falsetto in front...

Though the month of March, and, with it, Women’s History Month are drawing to a close, there are still several ways to continue learning about and celebrating the countless women that have made and are making our world a better place. Now that a cold and erratic winter has given...

What must be done to recreate America’s Black Wall Streets? In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, several segregated African American neighborhoods took it upon themselves to establish their own versions of the centers for commerce, industry, and entrepreneurship that white Americans had locked them out of. Because New...

If you were asked to provide a list of Black icons of civil rights, social justice, and activism, what figures would you name? It’s very likely that several mainstays of those categories would come up: Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela, Angela Davis, etc. Maybe you’d stray slightly...

Chinonye Chukwu’s “Till” places the spotlight on Mamie Till-Mobley, the somewhat unsung heroine of the events following the 1955 lynching of her fourteen-year-old son Emmett. Though many Americans and others across the world are familiar with the tragedy of Emmett Till’s murder, less know about his mother’s subsequent dedication to...

On Tuesday, July 26, 2022, in recognition of the 32nd anniversary of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA), my agency sponsored an event that included a screening of Signing Black in America. Before opening the invite completely, I read the subject line that read “Signing in Black.” I thought to...

One year ago, I and three hundred thirty million Americans experienced the first ever federally recognized Juneteenth. Regular readers might remember that mine began less than exceptionally. When I heard two days prior that Juneteenth had been declared a federal holiday, all I could think about was how little of...

Women are not only breaking glass ceilings in the corporate and business world, but women are also making inroads at previously male-dominated fields, from sanitation workers, police officers to fire fighters! Yes, firefighters! And so, my featured story begins. On Mach 8, 2022, in Brooklyn, New York, the FDNY welcomed...

Television shows have captivated our attention since the birth of television in the 1930s. Storylines that involve complex characters and dramatic events create timeless memories that span generations. Unfortunately, a vast majority of programming was produced, written, and created by white men. America did not see a woman produce a...

When did “Black Love” become a thing? What do I mean by that? Well, something that has to be qualified. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been taught about love. Just…love. Not Black love. Just…love. Let’s think about this. For anyone who was reared in a community with...

A Social Band-Aid Even though free Black people found more sustainable livelihoods in the North, the remnants of slavery still strongly influenced American society. The 13th Amendment ensured that slavery was illegal, unless under punishment for a crime. A glaring loophole that opened the flood gates for incarcerating Black people...

I’m, I’m so in love with you…Many may remember these words from a song or hearing your parents play it repeatedly back in the day. But for those who don’t, this is a verse from the sultry mega-hit love song “Let’s Stay Together,” sung by none other than one of...

When Chris Rock, pontificating at Kanye West’s ye listening party at West’s ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, claimed that “hip-hop music is the first artform created by free Black men,” he was right, so long as we understand “free” in this case to mean “not enslaved.” But while hip-hop may have...

On July 8, 2021, Zaila Avant-garde became the first African American in the nearly 100 years of the competition to win the 2021 Scripps National spelling bee champion! Let\’s all take a moment to celebrate her magnificent achievement! Congratulations Zaila!