Black History

(Runtime 1:09)Letitia Carson was a pioneer in more ways than one.In 1845, she traveled the Oregon Trail as a Black woman. Later, on two separate…

(Runtime 1:05)Editor’s Note: Northwest Public Broadcasting acknowledges that all of what’s now Washington state is Indigenous lands. Northwest tribal…

Claudio José Brindis de Salas y Garrido. A renowned violinist, born in Cuba in 1852. A contemporary journalist described his playing, and the effect it had on his listeners. “His eyes sparkled. His fingers multiplied…reaching into the deep nerves of the melody…leading a rapt audience to drunken emotion.”

For decades, it was almost impossible to hear a piece of music written by Florence Price. Price was a Black, female composer who died in 1953. But a group of New York City middle school students had the opportunity to quite literally write Florence Price's history. Their book, titled Who Is Florence Price?, is now out and available in stores.

Not only did Shuffle Along bring jazz to Broadway, it was the first African American show to be a smash hit. Its composer Eubie Blake recalled on WNYC in 1973: "When we put Shuffle Along on, on Broadway, we put negroes back to work again."

Hester Ford, who was America's oldest person living, died at her home in Charlotte, N.C., on April 17. Ford was at least 115 years old, though some records say she was possibly 116.

For nearly 30 years, Kirk Franklin has been widely regarded for revolutionizing gospel. He incorporated secular music, particularly hip-hop, while preserving the message and integrity of traditional gospel. Here, he and his powerhouse choir pace through a decades-long, sixteen Grammy award winning discography of faith, praise and encouragement while cracking plenty of jokes. I cannot recall a more moving Tiny Desk home performance.

Texas lawmakers voted to remove the word "Negro" from geographic features in 1991. But a federal board blocked the proposed name changes, and since then, almost none of them have been changed.

Lorraine Hansberry's play is about a Black family's struggle against racism in 1950s Chicago. At the Beijing People's Art Theatre, director Ying Da is working to bring that story to Chinese audiences.

Artist Dread Scott organized the 26-mile trek to New Orleans as a tribute to the men and women who protested their enslavement in the German Coast Uprising of 1811 by re-imagining a different outcome.