Article Category: Herstory

  • Herstory

    Songstress Superstars: Honoring their Pain and Passions

    Billie Holiday, Chaka Khan, Mary J. Blige, Natalie Cole, Phyllis Hyman, and Whitney Houston. Spanning generations and genres, these phenomenal songstress with crossover adulation shared more in common than their superstar status. All fought the demons of addiction; some to their demise, others to their recovery and rise. Commemorating Black Music Month, we unerase the…

    •
    2 minute read

  • Celebrating Three Blues Queens

    This month we celebrate the far-flung majesty of Black music by paying homage to three pioneers. Musical royalty, they were all late 19th Century contemporaries who staked out their legendary portraits: the First Lady of Blues Mammie Smith, the Mother of Blues Ma Rainey, the Empress of Blues Bessie Smith. Singularly and collectively – each…

    •
    6 minute read

  • Herstory

    Celebrating Three Blues Queens

    Musical royalty, they were all late 19th Century contemporaries who staked out their legendary portraits: the First Lady of Blues Mammie Smith, the Mother of Blues Ma Rainey, the Empress of Blues Bessie Smith. 

    •
    6 minute read

  • Herstory

    Showing Up With the Stars in Paris Noir

    Bricktop, the fiery red headed saloon keeper, held court in Paris' "it" scene. Captivating artists and expats helped her build bridges that traversed class, nationalism and cultures.

    •
    4 minute read

  • Word in Black

    Reading the Nation at 250: Who Is Missing From the Story?

    As America prepares to celebrate 250 years of independence, a federal reading initiative reveals a glaring truth: the nation is still telling its story without Black women.   Anniversaries like America’s 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence reveal not only what is celebrated, but what is omitted and whose stories are…

    •
    5 minute read

  • Diane Nash—Unsung Civil Rights Heroine

    Meet Diane Nash, the Civil Rights icon received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her leadership during the 1960s fight against segregation.

    •
    3 minute read

  • Marsha P. Johnson – Queen of the Village

    The 1960's whirlwind of change brought a new form of LGBTQ activism, led by Marsha P. Johnson and other transwomen who made a lasting imprint on the movement.

    •
    4 minute read