slavery

Oregon voters passed a measure that strips language from the state’s constitution allowing for slavery and involuntary servitude when used as a punishment for a crime. Notwithstanding more than 500,000 people voting to keep the language, unofficial returns Tuesday night indicated that the measure was passing by a clear margin.

The United States has a new national holiday to celebrate: Juneteenth, marking the day in 1865 — in the aftermath of the Civil War — when U.S. Army troops landed in Galveston, Texas, and informed some of the last enslaved Americans that they were free.

President Biden on Thursday signed a bill to recognize Juneteenth — the celebration to commemorate the end of chattel slavery in the United States — as a federal holiday.

The Senate unanimously approved a bill Tuesday that would make Juneteenth, the date commemorating the end of chattel slavery in the United States, a legal public holiday.

For this Black TV critic, completing Barry Jenkins' ambitious, beautifully brutal, 10-episode adaptation of Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad was an emotional journey that touched every nerve of what it feels like to be a person of color striving to matter in America.

The Cherokee Nation's Supreme Court ruled this week to remove the words "by blood" from its constitution and other legal doctrines. The words, added to the constitution in 2007, have been used to exclude Black people whose ancestors were enslaved by the tribe from obtaining full Cherokee Nation citizenship rights.

The statue in Rochester, N.Y., where Douglass lived for decades, was installed two years ago as part of a commemoration of the abolitionist's 200th birthday.

In this short film, five young descendants of Frederick Douglass read and respond to excerpts of his famous speech, "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" which asks all of us to consider America's long history of denying equal rights to Black Americans.

HBO Max temporarily removed the 1939 film from its streaming service in early June for its depiction of 'racial prejudices.' The film now includes an introduction addressing its controversial legacy.

In the wake of protests calling for racial equality and other reforms after the killing of George Floyd, there's a growing movement to make June 19 a federal holiday.