Black History

Lonnie Johnson—a nuclear engineer—invented it by accident.

In the 19th century, train collisions happened at alarming rates. The problem was that rail workers couldn't properly communicate with each other. That is, until Granville T. Woods, better known as Black Edison, changed everything.

Althea Gibson was a trailblazer in the segregated sport of tennis.

Colonel Charles Young overcame racism to rise through the ranks and create his legacy in the great outdoors.

In the 1960s, Civil Rights Leaders brought the celebration of Juneteenth back into American life.

Before the cowboy image Americans know today existed, a formerly enslaved man became the country’s first cowboy.

Bayard Rustin, a key advisor to MLK Jr., helped plan the 1963 March on Washington but had to work in the shadows as a gay man.

How did George Washington Carver bring science to the Tuskegee Institute?

Learn about the life and work of Civil Rights activist and two-time presidential candidate Jesse Jackson in this video.

Explore the enduring legacy of Black resistance, intellect and activism through the stories of five key figures.

Historian Yohuru Williams explains the events leading up to the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965.

In 1784, Virginia native James Hemings traveled to Paris with Thomas Jefferson, becoming the first American trained in French cuisine.

Nearly a century before Rosa Parks, Elizabeth Jennings challenged segregated transit in New York City.

At just 6, Ruby Bridges braved angry crowds to attend an all-white school—becoming the first Black student to integrate in Louisiana.

In the decades before the Civil War, anti-slavery sentiment sparked an abolitionist movement that employed risky and radical tactics to bring an end to slavery.

Malcolm X speaks to reporters about the Black Nationalist Movement and the need to establish Black Rifle Clubs.

W.E.B. Du Bois laid the foundation for the study of systemic racism in America's cities.

John Lewis was an American politician and civil rights activist who put his life on the line to lead countless protests for justice, in this clip from Season 1, "Bloody Sunday."

Jackie Robinson's legacy extends well past his iconic baseball career.

Birmingham is a city under siege, ruled by a strict segregationist.

Peaceful protestors are faced with violence by police officers in Selma, Alabama, in 1965.

America's first self-made female millionaire began her path to success with a dream and $1.50 to her name.

On August 24, 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till reportedly flirted with a white cashier in Money, Mississippi. Four days later, two white men tortured and murdered Till. His murder galvanized the emerging Civil Rights Movement.

Silent footage of members of the 101st U.S. Airborne Division escorting the Little Rock Nine into Central High School on September 25, 1957.

In 1954, the Supreme Court unanimously strikes down segregation in public schools, sparking the Civil Rights movement.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a hugely influential figure in American life, and surprised many that he never chose to enter the political arena. But he almost did.

Historian Yohuru Williams explains what you need to know to sound smart about the Great Migration of African Americans from the South to the North after the Civil War.

From May 2 to May 5, 1963, thousands of children left their schools in Birmingham, Alabama, to march for civil rights. Police officers responded by using water cannons and dogs to attack and then arrest the children.

On the night of January 27, 1956, when he was just 27 years old, Martin Luther King Jr. received a threatening phone call that would cause his life to change forever.

Kwanzaa didn't just appear spontaneously – it was specifically designed to heal a struggling community.

As an NAACP field secretary, Medgar Evers became a target for those who opposed racial equality and desegregation. On June 12, 1963 at 12:40 a.m., Evers was shot in the back in the driveway of his home in Jackson, Mississippi.

Newsreel footage of the freedom march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, led by Martin Luther King, Jr.

Inspired by Martin Luther King Jr., John Lewis joined the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement. Lewis was a Freedom Rider, spoke at 1963's March on Washington and led the demonstration that became known as "Bloody Sunday."

Historian Yohuru Williams talks about the Plessy v. Ferguson case and its effects on the Civil Rights Movement.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968. That same night, Robert F. Kennedy delivered the devastating news of King’s death to a group of African American supporters at a campaign rally. This is audio and video from that event.

On March 7, 1965 around 600 people crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in an attempt to begin the Selma to Montgomery march. State troopers violently attacked the peaceful demonstrators in an attempt to stop the march for voting rights.

Historian Matthew Pinsker presents a quick rundown of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act.

Learn about the landmark Supreme Court decision in Loving v. Virginia, which legalized interracial marriage in the United States.

Historian Matthew Pinsker presents a quick rundown of the story of Dred Scott, a slave who sued for his freedom, leading to one of the Supreme Court's most infamous decisions.

Historian Yohuru Williams describes the Civil Rights-era Freedom Rides protests and the Supreme Court decisions that inspired them.

Stokely Carmichael, leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, spoke to a crowd in Greenwood, Mississippi in 1964.

In 1954, Medgar Evers became the first state field secretary of the NAACP in Mississippi. As a civil rights leader, he fought to end the racial injustice he experienced growing up in the South.

How did the NAACP (the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) get its start? What needs and issues does it address, and what has it accomplished since it was founded in 1909?

A brief look at the history of African Americans and Black History Month.

Led by civil rights pioneer Daisy Bates, these nine brave Arkansas teenagers broke through racial barriers to become the first black students to attend Little Rock High School.

On Sunday, March 21, 1965, nearly 8,000 people began the five-day march from Selma to Montgomery for voting rights.

Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth was one of the South's most prominent Civil Rights leaders. He worked closely with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., co-founded the SCLC and refused to waver even after he was brutally attacked.

In 1619, the Dutch introduced the first captured Africans to America, planting the seeds of a slavery system that evolved into a nightmare of abuse and cruelty that would ultimately divide the nation.

After her husband became pastor, Coretta Scott King joined the choir at the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church. Hear two of her friends and members of the congregation remember Mrs. King’s legacy and her voice.

From 1954 until 1960, Martin Luther King Jr. was the pastor of the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, the only church where MLK pastored and the site where he began his Civil Rights activism.

On September 30, 1956, Martin Luther King Jr.’s house was bombed by segregationists in retaliation for the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Bree Newsome discusses the impact that everyday citizens like Lynda Blackmon Lowrey had on the civil rights movement in honor of Black History Month.

Historian Yohuru Williams sums up the tumultuous political and cultural movements of the 1960s.

Historian Yohuru Williams recounts the history of the Black Panther Party in the United States.

Facing racism and segregation in their own country, the Harlem Hellfighters became one of the most decorated American combat units serving in World War I.

Newsreel footage of President Johnson signing the Voting Rights Bill.

Diane Nash and Bree Newsome discuss past and present forms of civil rights activism in honor of Black History Month.

In the last year of his life, Martin Luther King Jr. expanded his cause beyond Civil Rights, and advocated to lift all Americans out of poverty.

Bayard Rustin, one of MLK's key advisers, overcame countless personal challenges as he guided the fight equal rights.

Greenwood Tulsa became the site of the deadliest race massacre in American history.

In March of 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. traveled to Memphis, Tennessee to lead a group of striking sanitation workers in peaceful protest amid threats against his life. The threats were real. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis on April 4, 1968.

Historian Yohuru Williams give a brief rundown of the history of the 15th Amendment, which outlawed votings rights discrimination after the Civil War.

Did you know Rosa Parks wasn't the first African-American woman to refuse to give up her seat? Get the full story.

Those who knew Rosa Parks personally discuss her legacy and their memories of her life.

96-year-old Nelson Mitchell's naval career inspired future generations of African-American servicemen - including his son.

Before becoming a baseball icon, Jackie Robinson dominated the football field in college.

Locked out of Major League Baseball, black players looked to the Negro Leagues to be treated like the elite athletes they were. And it was all possible because of one man: Rube Foster.

Henry Johnson served in the 369th Infantry Regiment, a unit of the U.S. Army that was composed primarily of African American soldiers and later became known as the "Harlem Hellfighters." Learn more in this scene from "Harlem Hellfighters".

W.E.B. Dubois was integral to the advancement of racial equality.

They will never get their names in the history books, yet the foot soldiers of the Civil Rights movement changed history for the better through their unsung acts of courage.

On December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, AL and sparked the American Civil Rights movement of the 20th century.

For 382 days, almost the entire African-American population of Montgomery, Alabama, including leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, refused to ride on segregated buses, a turning point in the American civil rights movement.

Throughout American history, many have had to fight to advance the ideals of liberty and equality. Learn about 9 lesser known civil rights leaders who were crucial to their causes, in this episode of History Countdown.

From the NAACP to the Black Lives Matter movement, we're counting down the biggest civil rights turning points in every decade.

Issued after the Union victory at Antietam, the Emancipation Proclamation had both moral and strategic implications.

In 1964 the FBI sent an anonymous package to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., threatening to expose his private life.

Freedom Summer 1964 was a massive voter registration campaign in Mississippi and the first interracial movement of its kind.

In the 1950s, more than 40,000 citizens of Montgomery, Alabama, boycotted the city's segregated bus service for 381 days.

When President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order 9981, it helped other parts of American society to accept desegregation.

In the 1960s, civil rights leaders revived the celebration of Juneteenth and brought it back into American life.

In 1954, a Kentucky boy’s bike was stolen. A cop told him to fight back—by learning to box.

Born to formerly enslaved parents, Lewis Latimer drew Bell’s telephone plans and later advised Edison on inventing the light bulb.