We've curated some of our best historical essays and have published many new pieces, too. For The Progressive, every month is Black History Month. Take a look:
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Black History
Dr. King, Poor People, and the Need for Compassion
The full name of the March on Washington was “The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.” Read more
Celebrating Kwanzaa amid Political Turmoil
Like other holidays that are celebrated predominantly by people of color — such as Ramadan, Juneteenth, Holi, and Hispanic Heritage Month — Kwanzaa is often misunderstood. Read more
Yoichi R. Okamoto
Fifty Years After the Police Murders of Black Panthers Fred Hampton and Mark Clark
“We learned that the government had a plan in place to deal with any black leaders emerging ‘who could unify and electrify the masses,’ in the words of the FBI. Fred was doing that.” Read more
Soniakapadia
Political ‘Lynching’: Misusing a Scourge of History
Trump’s habit of stirring up animosity toward people of color and other political enemies through his own irresponsible rhetoric is itself reminiscent of lynching times. Read more
Library of Congress
We’ve Never Forgiven Haiti for Being Black
American public policy surrounding Haiti still contributes to ongoing misery there today—including conditions that have erupted in protests in recent weeks. Read more
Boston, Ginn and Company
What 1619 Means to Me
What we need in America is a steady gaze in the mirror, accepting that any talk about our history is the story of people brought here as slaves. Read more
Boston, Ginn and Company
What 1619 Means to Me
What we need in America is a steady gaze in the mirror, accepting that any talk about our history is the story of people brought here as slaves. Read more
Jason Johnson
Redeeming the Promise of the Past for Justice in the Present
Katherine Franke’s new book, “Repair: Redeeming the Promise of Abolition” offers concrete strategies for both reparations and housing reform. Read more
Grass is Greener
Overcoming a History of Bias in a Budding Industry
The marijuana industry is blossoming, along with multiple challenges to correcting decades of injustice around the plant. Read more
Timuel Black’s ‘Typical’ Life
An activist and historian recalls his 100 years on the streets of Chicago. Read more
Erin Robinson
A Letter to My Niece
As a baby, you knew nothing of the definitions the world was going to press onto you later in life—black, female, Southern. The world had not yet told you who you were, who you could or should be. You just were. Read more
Striking Steel
“No matter how many centuries have been devoted to the official story that black people are shameful, we have been the grace note of American history. And yet if I am honest, shame is what I feel. Not in blackness though, in Americanness.” Read more
Landesarchiv Berlin
Martin Luther King and ‘God’s Children’ on Both Sides of the Border Wall
What would Martin Luther King Jr. think of Donald Trump’s border wall? Read more
From If Beale Street Could Talk
‘If Beale Street Could Talk’
Finally, James Baldwin’s big screen U.S. debut. Read more
David Lee / Focus Features
Infiltrate Hate: Spike Lee’s “BlacKkKlansman”
The movie is Lee’s best and most radical film in decades, and a lot of fun as well. Read more
Andre White
In memory of Ron Dellums: “Black, Radical, and Hopeful.”
When Dellums talked about peace, he meant peace—withdrawal from the mentality that relies on death and the threat of death as a national way of life. Read more
Dennis Brack/UT Austin’s Briscoe Center for American History
America’s Poverty Crisis Is a Failure to Heed the Demands of Resurrection City
Among fiftieth anniversaries from the seismic year of 1968, a lesser-known episode has powerful lessons for today. Read more
NPS
The Public Education of Linda Brown
Her father’s name is on the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education, a milestone in ending racial segregation in public education. Read more
