black history

“Beautiful, bustling, and Black”—that was how author, attorney and activist Hannibal B. Johnson described the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma, in his book “Black Wall Street: From Riot to Renaissance in Tulsa’s Historic Greenwood District.”

As I reflect on Black History Month 2025, I’m reminded why my late husband, Roland, and I wrote “Still I Rise: A Cartoon History of African Americans,” followed by our updated edition “Still I Rise: A Graphic History of African Americans.”

As we celebrate Black History Month, we honor the rich, diverse and powerful stories that have shaped and continue to shape our culture, history and future. At ROXFILM, we revel in the strength, resilience and creativity of our ROXFILM family and beyond as they continue to amplify voices that have been overlooked or underrepresented.

My mother once said to me that history is the skeleton inside a living country. It made sense to me that if we haven’t formed a clear understanding of what happened and why, how are we to make good decisions going forward?

What will historians say a century from now about this moment in Black history? Looking back, will they see the first quarter of the 21st century as a pivotal moment of retrenchment, comparable to the imposition of Jim Crow after the promises of the post-Civil War era of Reconstruction?

Each year when the calendar flips to February, we as a nation train our collective focus on the stories of Black people in American history, highlighting some of the myriad achievements, accomplishments and contributions we’ve made, indispensable fibers woven into the great tapestry that is the United States

The power of Dorothy Height’s words, “I want to be remembered as one who tried,” strikes at the heart of Boston’s Black legacy. We are here because of all the ancestors who tried, those whose triumphs were blocked, those who persisted and those who succeeded.

James Baldwin’s inkwell, Malcolm X’s tape recorder, a lock of Frederick Douglass’s hair. These are some of the physical manifestations of Black history, oppression and transcendence that artist Wendel White photographed for his book “Manifest: Thirteen Colonies” and the eponymous exhibition the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology at Harvard University.

This Black History Month, the Banner is teaming up with WriteBoston’s Teens In Print program, highlighting young voices of color. Each week, we will feature the work of three new students, who will deliver their perspectives on Black History and what it means to them.

As a part of “an effort to diversify their library collections,” the Harvard Library acquired a 1949 international Green Book in March 2024.

The U.S. Mint’s modern commemorative coin program, established in 1982, has come out with a new addition to the collection. The Harriet Tubman commemorative coin has been in circulation since the beginning of 2024, and operations to continue making the coins will cease on December 31, 2024.

In a city rich with history and known for its cultural tapestry, some of Boston’s basketball courts received a makeover for June. Inspired by icons like Marcus Garvey and Lebron James, a pioneering art project is taking shape under the creative vision of Glen Gaines.