When Black people resisted oppression, psychiatry diagnosed the behavior as a treatable condition. #BlackSky lestercraven.substack.com/p/psychiatry...

In 1868, the Arkansas governor deployed the national guard (then called state militia) to stop KKK-led violence because the federal government refused to intervene. #BlackSky lestercraven.substack.com/p/state-mili...

This week marks the 50th anniversary of this iconic photo that has become an enduring symbol not just of Boston’s school desegregation crisis but also of America’s violent history of anti-Black oppression. #BlackSky #america250 lestercraven.substack.com/p/violence-i...

America’s problems are an opportunity for producing something better. Avoiding the problems ensures avoiding that better something as well. #BlackSky lestercraven.substack.com/p/we-do-thin...

Major League Baseball excluded Black players then denied recognition of Negro League records because they weren’t “major leagues.” #BlackSky lestercraven.substack.com/p/mlb-correc...

Despite general acceptance of the magnitude of slavery's atrocities, the enduring effect on African economies today is underappreciated. #BlackSky lestercraven.substack.com/p/the-slave-...

The courage of the Freedom Riders in 1961 exposed the cowardly violence behind anti-Black discrimination. #BlackSky lestercraven.substack.com/p/freedom-ri...

“...by getting the public to associate blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing [them] heavily, we could disrupt those communities. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.” - John Ehrlichman, Counsel for President Nixon #BlackSky lestercraven.substack.com/p/police-wer...

Owning property is a way that families build generational wealth, and Minneapolis did its best to make that as hard as possible for Black people. #BlackSky lestercraven.substack.com/p/whites-rio...

For over 200 years, affirmative action programs have been hugely effective in creating the middle class that exists in America today. #BlackSky lestercraven.substack.com/p/affirmativ...

In 1968, the federal government investigated the root causes of America’s racial inequality, identified solutions, and then did nearly nothing. #BlackSky lestercraven.substack.com/p/america-ig...

As a pioneer for African Americans in the US armed forces, General Colin Powell changed the world through military power. He was well known for his ability to get things done by telling people what to do. Yet, at the same time, he himself was told what to do. #BlackSky substack.com/@lestercrave...

America fought over slavery, ended apartheid by law, yet preserved systems of racial advantage. Slavery ended without ending White supremacy. Segregation ended without integration. Will America 350™ be different than America 250? #BlackSky #bhm #america250 lestercraven.substack.com/p/which-amer...

Winning the heavyweight boxing title wasn’t the most enduringly influential characteristic of Muhammad Ali’s life. #BlackSky #bhm #muhammadali lestercraven.substack.com/p/muhammad-a...

Winning the heavyweight boxing title was the most enduringly influential characteristic of Jack Johnson’s life. #BlackSky #bhm #jackjohnson lestercraven.substack.com/p/jack-johns...

In eastern North Carolina, many self-liberated former slaves lived as maroons in the Alligator Swamp and were fiercely antagonistic toward the slave society they had escaped. #BlackSky #bhm #tyrellcountync lestercraven.substack.com/p/tyrrell-co...

Following the Civil War, Whites who had become accustomed to using violence to control Black behavior during slavery wanted to retain this right. #BlackSky #bhm #standyourground lestercraven.substack.com/p/the-right-...

Banks that accumulated capital during the slavery era, loaned money to cities in the 20th century to build infrastructure that primarily benefitted Whites, while pocketing the profits from the interest that was paid in part by Black taxpayers. #BlackSky #bhm lestercraven.substack.com/p/black-taxp...

The architect of the legal strategy to end segregation that culminated in the Brown vs. Board ruling is virtually unknown because he died before this landmark victory was achieved. #BlackSky #bhm #charleshamiltonhouston lestercraven.substack.com/p/the-man-wh...

South Carolina’s population was majority Black in 1910, yet anti-Black voter oppression was so effective it kept Blacks out of government then and kept them out decade after decade after decade. #BlackSky #bhm #restorethevra lestercraven.substack.com/p/blacks-led...

Sophiatown was hardly the Black Wall Street of South Africa, yet because Black people were enjoying freedom there, it was a threat to the apartheid government and therefore it had to be destroyed. #BlackSky #bhm #sophiatown lestercraven.substack.com/p/sophiatown...

The forced removal of millions of Black people from their homeland in southern Africa began with the British occupation and continued for decades under the apartheid government of independent South Africa. #BlackSky #bhm #forcedremovals lestercraven.substack.com/p/south-afri...

In 1954, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that segregated education was unconstitutional and 15 years later emphatically affirmed its decision, then just 5 years later it said remedying the problem isn’t allowed. #BlackSky #bhm #millikenvbradley lestercraven.substack.com/p/brown-v-bo...

Gloria Richardson was captured in an iconic photo that perfectly conveyed her courage and uncompromising commitment to obtaining equality for Black Americans. #bhm #gloriarichardson lestercraven.substack.com/p/gloria-ric...

When Jefferson wrote that all men should be free, everyone knew that not everyone could be free. What was at stake was who would get to decide. #BlackSky #bhm #declarationofindependence lestercraven.substack.com/p/the-right-...

Despite being denied frontline assignments under Jim Crow, Black soldiers proved their worth through their achievements in the work they were given. #BlackSky #bhm #buffalosoldier lestercraven.substack.com/p/black-sold...

Hollywood made sure that every one of us knows about Doris Miller even if we don't know his name. #BlackSky #bhm #dorismiller lestercraven.substack.com/p/americas-f...

In its first 134 years of existence, fewer than 0.04% of West Point graduates were Black, but that was too many for key supporters of the institution. #BlackSky #bhm #invisiblegenerals lestercraven.substack.com/p/black-cade...

A.G. Gaston was famous for making money but less famous for how he used that money to improve people’s lives. #BlackSky #bhm #aggaston lestercraven.substack.com/p/self-made-...

Black Americans have repeatedly overcome enormous obstacles to build vibrant economies, only to have them destroyed by the government. Yet, many people today ignorantly ask, “Why can’t Black people succeed in business?” #BlackSky #bhm #hayti lestercraven.substack.com/p/us-governm...

Ah, the n-word. It’s unspeakable, but the idea behind it sure isn’t. How one word used to describe Black people became the most unspeakable word in English and was replaced with something else. #BlackSky #bhm #ojsimpson lestercraven.substack.com/p/the-histor...

After looting the colonies, the plunderers gave the keys back to the locals but kept the money. #BlackSky #bhm #neocolonialism lestercraven.substack.com/p/independen...

Spain responded to its genocide of the Taíno people by importing tens of thousands of Africans to Puerto Rico. #BlackSky #bhm #puertorico lestercraven.substack.com/p/spains-sla...

City planners in Pasadena had a less expensive freeway construction option and still chose the more expensive one that also destroyed more Black-owned houses and businesses. #BlackSky #bhm #pasadena lestercraven.substack.com/p/i-210-drov...

Colonists used their capital as the fuel for developing economic engines in their colonies, then gave the colonies their independence and took away the fuel. #BlackSky #bhm #neocolonialism lestercraven.substack.com/p/colonialis...

The justification for the 911 emergency telephone system wasn’t public safety but control of people to “maintain order.” #BlackSky #bhm #911 lestercraven.substack.com/p/911-was-in...

In 1967, a group of dedicated, hardworking young Black men developed a new branch of mobile emergency services that has since saved countless lives in the US and around the world. #BlackSky #bhm #freedomhouse lestercraven.substack.com/p/black-trai...

A named tragedy cost Black Tulsans their lives in 1921; fifty years later, an unnamed tragedy cost them their land. #BlackSky #bhm #tulsamassacre lestercraven.substack.com/p/tulsas-mas...

George Washington Carver is famous for his peanut products but it’s his spirit of innovation that continues to inspire people to do great things. #BlackSky lestercraven.substack.com/p/carvers-pe...

We all can learn from anyone’s history from anywhere because we’re all part of the same shared story. #BlackSky #bhm #america250 lestercraven.substack.com/p/how-will-y...

Given an opportunity that lasted just one week in 1968, Harry Belafonte broke ground in late-night television that still produces results today. #BlackSky lestercraven.substack.com/p/how-harry-...

The story of the 1874 election day massacre in Eufaula, Alabama, has been intentionally hidden and remains untaught in Alabama schools today. #BlackSky lestercraven.substack.com/p/forgotten-...

Known as the Harlem of the South, The Scrub was the home of Tampa's Black community until freeway construction obliterated it. #BlackSky lestercraven.substack.com/p/freeway-co...

White leaders in Birmingham, Alabama thought it was better for their citizens to have no public facilities than to have to share them with Black people. #BlackSky lestercraven.substack.com/p/birmingham...

Activists in 2020 revealed the long-hidden history of the murder of a small town’s first Black commissioner and constable. #BlackSky lestercraven.substack.com/p/town-commi...

To keep a negative portrayal of Atlanta from spreading, city leaders ordered the removal of information about a massacre of Black Americans by a mob of White men. #BlackSky lestercraven.substack.com/p/atlanta-ma...

The economic and political success of African Americans in North Carolina triggered a viciously violent backlash from Whites, the effects of which would last decades. #BlackSky lestercraven.substack.com/p/the-only-s...

After Georgia state representative Denmark Groover created Georgia’s runoff election system that disadvantaged Black candidates, he admitted, “If you want to establish if I was racially prejudiced, I was.” #BlackSky lestercraven.substack.com/p/georgia-ru...

A friend shares the story of how her family learned after Grandpa died that he’d been in the KKK. #BlackSky lestercraven.substack.com/p/we-all-inh...

Targeted marketing has had a greater impact on who consumes Coke and Pepsi than the taste of the colas themselves. #BlackSky lestercraven.substack.com/p/racialized...