Blacks Are 3/5 of a Man
The U.S. Constitution once counted enslaved people as three-fifths of a person for representation and taxation. But what did the Three-Fifths Compromise actually mean, and why was it created? This is the history behind one of the most controversial compromises in the Constitution.
The Last Slave Ship
Cudjo Lewis was one of the Africans brought to Alabama aboard the Clotilda, the last known slave ship to bring captive Africans into the United States. His African name was Kossola (Kazoola). He was born in what is now Benin, West Africa, around 1841. In 1860, when he was about 19, he was captured, sold into slavery, and transported across the Atlantic aboard the Clotilda. After slavery ended in 1865, Cudjo and other Clotilda survivors wanted to return to Africa. They couldn't afford the journey, so they eventually acquired land near Mobile, Alabama and helped establish Africatown, a community where they tried to preserve their African traditions and language.
Formerly Enslaved Students Sang for Queen Victoria to Save Their School
In the years following slavery, Fisk University in Nashville became a place where newly freed Black Americans could pursue an education. But by 1871, the young university was struggling financially and its future was uncertain. A group of Fisk students known as the Fisk Jubilee Singers set out on a remarkable fundraising tour to help keep their school alive. Several members had been born into slavery, and now they traveled across the country performing spirituals rooted in the Black American experience. Despite facing racism, discrimination, and financial hardship along the way, the singers gained national attention and eventually took their music overseas. Their journey brought them before some of the most powerful people of the era, including Queen Victoria. Their performances helped raise desperately needed money for Fisk University and contributed to the construction of Jubilee Hall. It is the remarkable story of young Black students who used their voices not only to make history, but to help secure the future of their school.
Dorothy Dandridge: Career Ruined Early
Dorothy Dandridge shattered barriers as the first Black woman nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. But after reaching Hollywood's highest levels with Carmen Jones, racism, limited roles, damaging career decisions, and personal struggles caused her promising career to unravel far too soon.
