A new farm debt relief program is dividing rural America. The USDA program, meant to assist "Social Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers," includes farm debt repayment and other assistance to farmers who have faced racial or ethnic discrimination. It's an attempt to counter generations of inequality, but some white farmers call the program "anti-white."
President Biden signed a bill officially declaring Juneteenth, June 19, to be a federal holiday.
- June 2, 2021
Sojourner Truth was an advocate of the "Exoduster movement" of former slaves from the South to Kansas. Frederick Douglass was an opponent – believing African Americans should stay in the South and fight for their rights, despite the furious backlash of post-Civil War racism and Jim Crow.
mounted a campaign in the 1880s to win reparations for ex-slaves from the U.S. government, resulting in the first ever proposal of reparations to be introduced in the U.S. Senate.
The Illinois City became the first in the nation to compensate African Americans for past housing discrimination for past structural racism in housing.
- May 28, 2021
our outstanding panels on African American Midwest history were held at the 2021 Midwestern History Association Conference, featuring leading scholars including documentary consulting producers Terrion Williamson and Erik McDuffie. Check back for links to the panel videos.
African American Midwest Giants: Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells, Rosa Parks, MLK, Malcom X and more
Links to information about the 143rd Nicodemus Emancipation Homecoming Celebration
- February 18, 2021
Links to reviews and summaries of a new historical series.
- February 17, 2021
Links to New York Times articles regarding African American perspectives in the Midwest.