Black Studies

The University of Massachusetts Amherst received its largest ever Mellon Foundation grant to support the Slavery North Initiative. The program is led by founding director Charmaine Nelson, provost professor of art history.

The National Council for Black Studies has selected Alicia Fontnette as the organization's executive director. Dr. Fontnette is an assistant professor in the department of African studies at the University of Delaware, which will serve as the council's new headquarters.

The collection includes research materials on Black cowboys, musical instruments, an Edison phonograph with several playable wax cylinders, historical sheet music, art pieces, memorabilia, personal gifts, autographed records, and materials documenting Flemons’ 20-year professional music career.

Screen Door Press is dedicated to discovering unique, exceptional, and varied voices within Black literary traditions. The goal of Screen Door Press is to publish thought-provoking books that feature relatable characters, strong narratives, and beautiful language to champion diverse views from throughout the Black diaspora. The new imprint will be edited by Crystal Wilkinson, Bush-Holbrook Endowed Professor at the University of Kentucky.

Kerry James Marshall has donated his portrait of Harvard's Henry Louis Gates Jr. to the University of Cambridge. Professor Gates holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in English language and literature from Clare College at the University of Cambridge. The work is Marshall's first portrait of a living person.

The new institute, led by law professor Kimberly Jenkins Robinson, aims to ensure that all students receive a high-quality K-12 education and help schools understand how to address obstacles facing disadvantaged students.

The women and gender studies program and the African American studies program at  Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, have been combined to form the Department of Women's, Gender and African American Studies. Sharon Jones, a professor of English at Ball State University, has been named chair of the new department.

The center’s scholarship aims to deepen society’s understanding of the causes of health-related inequalities, how they intersect, and how they affect population health. The center’s research hopes to formulate potential solutions to these challenges through advocacy, intervention, and public policy.

Jason Rawls and Stevie “Dr. View” Johnson have been hired as assistant professors to lead the new hip-hop studies program.

In 1971, the members of Concerned Black Students at Grinnell College in Iowa presented President Glenn Leggett with a list of 10 demands to improve life on campus for Black students and faculty. Among these demands was the creation of a Black studies major. Now that demand has become true.

In 1935, Lillie Jackson was elected president of the Baltimore Branch of the NAACP. Under her leadership, the NAACP membership rose from less than 200 in 1935 to over 25,000 by 1946. She remained president until 1970. Her home was made into a museum and later ownership was transferred to Morgan State University,

New research by Reuters has found that of the 536 members of the current U.S. Congress, at least 100 have ancestors who had ties to the institution of slavery. More than one quarter of all U.S. Senators have an ancestor who enslaved at least one person. Two justices of the U.S. Supreme Court and 11 of the nation's 50 governors had ancestors who were involved in slavery.

New research by Reuters has found that of the 536 members of the current U.S. Congress, at least 100 have ancestors who had ties to the institution of slavery. More than one quarter of all U.S. Senators have an ancestor who enslaved at least one person. Two justices of the U.S. Supreme Court and 11 of the nation's 50 governors had ancestors who were involved in slavery.

Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, has announced that it is establishing the Institute for Race and Social Transformation (iRaST). The institute will serve as...

The University Senate at the University of Connecticut has voted to create a social justice requirement in the university's curriculum. The new social justice requirement focuses on the one-credit “Anti-Black Racism” course that has been offered as an elective since the 3021=-22 academic year. The new requirement will be in effect beginning in the 2024-25 academic year.

The department is seeking to better reflect the breadth of its scholarship and teaching, according to the faculty’s formal name change proposal. The term “African American studies” is often interpreted as being specific to the United States, while the department’s actual work is broader.

In the fall of 2022, The College Board offered an Advanced Placement course in African American studies for the first time. The course was offered in 60 high schools throughout the United States in a pilot program. Now 800 schools are planning to offer the course. But controversy about the content of the course persists.