CAN I SPEAK FREELY?

James Baldwin, famed author of The Fire Next Time, Go Tell It on the Mountain, and Giovanni’s Room, was one of the most notable expatriate artists of his generation. Twenty-four-year-old Baldwin left his native Harlem for Paris in 1948, seeking, in his words, “a refuge from the American madness.” It’s...

There’s no debating it: Today’s Republican Party is an extension of the same political tradition (American social conservatism) that once opposed the abolition of slavery and the expansion of civil rights. Today’s Democratic Party is an extension of the same political tradition (American social liberalism) that abolished slavery and expanded...

In all of human history, there has perhaps never been a more ardent believer in the idea that any publicity is good publicity than twenty-four-time Grammy-winning recording artist Kanye West. Ye—as he’s been legally known since 2021—thrives on controversy, provocation, and quite literally anything that will put him in the...

Garrett Augustus Morgan Sr., born on March 4, 1877 in Claysville, Kentucky, is a name that comes up often during each Black History Month. The inventor, businessman, activist, and self-proclaimed “Black Edison” is best remembered today as the inventor of an early version of the three-way traffic light. He was...

In 2011, State Farm achieved television immortality with nothing more than a red polo and a pair of khakis. The iconic “Jake from State Farm” insurance mascot was born in a brief thirty-second commercial featuring Jake Stone, an actual State Farm employee from Bloomington, Illinois. Despite the commercial’s instant and...

Two of the most enduring blights on the history of African American culture are the concepts of being “too black” and “not black enough.” Though heavily featured among African Americans, the concepts, which are closely linked to colorism and identity politics, are by no means exclusive to them. The favorability...