The Mississippi Plan: Jim Crow’s Blueprint for Black Voter Suppression
Most Americans learn that slavery ended in 1865. Far fewer learn what happened next. Because emancipation did not end the…
How Literacy Tests Were Used to Keep Black Americans From Voting
For decades in America, Black citizens were told they could vote. At least on paper. The Constitution had been amended.…
Theodore Bilbo and the Fear of Black Voting Rights
In 1946, Theodore Bilbo stood before a packed crowd in Greenville, Mississippi, and reminded them why he believed he deserved…
Black Ballots & Barriers: The Supreme Court Is Taking Us Back to Jim Crow
For generations, Black Americans were told the right to vote was settled. We were told emancipation settled it. Then Reconstruction…
When Humiliation Was the Point: From Slavery to Jim Roland
When Humiliation Becomes a System There is a moment in 12 Years a Slave where Solomon Northup is forced to…
The DeLoach Family and the Cost of Living With Uncertainty
This story opens our new series, Uncertainty. In our previous series, Injustice by Design, we explored a hard truth: what…
Injustice by Design: What Black Survival Really Looks Like
Injustice was not a glitch in the system. It was the system. That’s the question we wrestled with throughout this…
Florence Akers: A Black Girl. A Slipper. A Town That Lied
In this country, when a Black woman dares to speak — dares to name what was done to her —…
Gertrude Perkins Told the Truth. The System Called Her a Liar.
This is the third entry in the Injustice By Design series. And by now, the pattern should be clear. These…
The Ku Klux Klan Was Never Just a Mob
Watch the full video story of George and Mary Green And see how the Klan didn’t hide—because they didn’t have…
George Green Went To Court And Won. Then The Klan Came For Him
Watch the full video story of George and Mary Green He stood his ground. She told the truth. The system…
Ned Thompson and Martin Tabert: The Two Deaths That Exposed Florida’s Slave Labor System
Some people look at the conditions Black communities live in today — the poverty, the neighborhoods, the schools — and…
Black Resistance, Black Survival: A Reflection
We’ve spent this series telling stories of Black resistance — stories that stretched from the late 1800s into the early…
Before the Fire Came for the Arthurs
In February 1893, Ida B. Wells stood before a crowd in Washington, D.C., and issued a warning. The South, she…
The Arthur Family Refused to Bow. What Came Next Was Terror.
What does it cost to square your shoulders and say no — and mean it? In every story we’ve told…
From the Kaiser to Jim Crow: The Story of Sergeant Edgar Caldwell
When the Armistice was signed in November 1918, most Americans saw it as the end of World War I. A…
Samuel Burton’s Second Stand: How He Fought Back in Baltimore
After the Onancok riot in 1907, Samuel Burton lost everything. His business was burned to the ground. His wealth was…