This past spring and summer, I embarked on a container gardening journey. My crops of choice were peppers of all sorts: poblano, habanero, scotch bonnets, and, perhaps most interestingly, fish peppers.

Last month, ABC News aired the segment “The Hands That Built the White House,” which highlighted the life of Calvert Ambush, one of the enslaved men who assisted in the construction of the White House portico. Calvert Ambush’s labor not only contributed to the..

Two years ago today, on August 1, 2024, I climbed into my car and drove to one of my favorite places in the world, the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

As the country celebrates the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, it is vital to highlight the contributions of People of Color (and particularly Black Bostonians) to the Revolutionary Era. One of the most notable Black Bostonians..

My paper for the AAIHS meeting had to contribute to an exciting atmosphere of deep intellectual thought amongst people who are also enthusiastic about demonstrating the importance of the past to the present. The theme of the entire conference was “Preserving Histories..

This year I was honored to have a paper accepted by the African American Intellectual History Society (AAIHS) for their annual meeting, held in Pittsburgh on March 27-28, 2026. Some of you may remember that I attended the conference as a spectator last year to learn as..

Thanks in large part to the legacy he built during his lifetime, few people remain unaware of the importance of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to the Civil Rights Movement. His life and contributions are commemorated each year on the third Monday of January. Far fewer..

According to his death certificate, Rufus Freeman of Myrtle Grove Sound in New Hanover County, North Carolina died on 26 September, 1923.¹An autopsy was done in James Walker Hospital by the coroner G. S. Holden, who confirmed Rufus Freeman’s cause of death: “shot by..

I read two stories of interest in a recent issue of The Woodstock Villager, a local newspaper from my grandfather’s Connecticut hometown. The first story (on page A3) concerned a Witness..