The Cleveland Observer

FEBRUARY 12 1793—Congress passes the first Fugi­tive Slave Law. The law made it easier for a slave owner to re-take control of a slave who had escaped to freedom. Blacks and their supporters were out­raged because the 1793 law only re­quired the “word” of a White man before a magistrate to declare any Black person […]

In a bold move to address a troubling trend in corporate America, the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) has launched a national public education campaign in response to the rollback of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs by several major corporations. This initiative, aimed at holding these companies accountable, calls on Black consumers to reconsider […]

Bill Robinson dancing with Shirley Temple in ‘The Little Colonel.’ (20th Century Fox) by Cheryl Thompson, Toronto Metropolitan University Published nearly 170 years ago, Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe had a profound impact on American slavery. But Uncle Tom is not a relic from the 19th century: this complex figure still has a […]

Elon Musk, right, has moved to take the reins of key pieces of the U.S. government. Brandon Bell/Getty Images by Allison Stanger, Middlebury Elon Musk’s role as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE, is on the surface a dramatic effort to overhaul the inefficiencies of federal bureaucracy. But beneath […]

A 1910 watercolor portrait of Belle da Costa Greene by Laura Coombs Hills. The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, gift of the Estate of Belle da Costa Greene. by Deborah W. Parker, University of Virginia “Just Because I am a Librarian doesn’t mean I have to dress like one.” With this breezy pronouncement, Belle […]

Kendrick Lamar performing the Super Bowl LIX Half Time Show (Screenshot). BHM Our Voices: Perspectives on the Black Experience – Stories examining the issues, injustices, and events shaping Black lives today. Three weeks into Donald Trump’s second term, it’s already the horror show we feared. And, like in classic horror films, the antagonist is coming […]

      February 5 1866—Congressman Thaddeus Stevens, one of the great White heroes of Black history, offers his famous amendment to the Freedman’s Bureau bill to use land confiscated from former slave owners as well as some public lands to guarantee each adult former slave “40 acres and a mule.” However, even after the […]

The historical depiction of ‘the mammy’ is a racist stereotype, with an enduring impact. Hattie McDaniel (right) won an Oscar for her role in ‘Gone with the Wind’ with Vivien Leigh (left). Selznick International Pictures by Cheryl Thompson, Toronto Metropolitan University How does a 100-year-old racist stereotype still impact Black women in North American institutions? When […]

Maya Angelou’s political journalism, written in the 1960s, was radical and anti-colonial. Pictorial Press/Alamy Stock Photo by Alex White, University of Cambridge On August 28 1963, a group of activists gathered opposite the US Embassy in the Ghanaian capital of Accra. Inspired by the March on Washington unfolding 5,000 miles away, the protesters carried placards urging […]