Ronda Racha Penrice

February is Black History Month, a celebration of African American achievements and civil rights pioneers, such as Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, and Martin Luther King Jr. The month also celebrates the history of Black American leaders in politics, industry, science, culture, and more. ©Ryan / Adobe StockEdmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, AlabamaHundreds of sites around the country have important stories to tell about the history of Black people in America.

Black American directors became more and more visible in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, with Spike Lee at the forefront. This article identifies just some of the many Black American directors who made a name for themselves, and a sampling of their work. Spike Lee: Getting personal From the 1986 film She’s Gotta Have It to his later work on Netflix, Spike Lee truly helped inspire a generation of filmmakers.

Black American history is a cornerstone of American history. Major events in America's timeline have been impacted by Black Americans. This cheat sheet includes a brief overview of some of the great institutions that preserve that history, the words to the most popular part of the Black National Anthem, and a list of some important dates in Black American history.

From the mid-1960s to the early 1970s, black women were in a difficult position. Between the civil rights and feminist movements, where did they fit in? They had been the backbone of the civil rights movement, but their contributions were deemphasized as black men — often emasculated by white society — felt compelled to adopt patriarchal roles.

The dramatic civil rights and segregation battles that set the tone for much of the 1960s didn’t just happen. Several events preceded those battles, perhaps none more important than the 1954 Supreme Court decision of Brown v. Board of Education. That decision overturned the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson edict, which set the precedent for legalized segregation.

At the beginning of the 19th century, many black abolitionists favored moderate and strategic action over violence to end slavery. Since white Americans outnumbered black Americans, violence just wasn't a viable option. Even in communities where African Americans weren't outnumbered, their behavior was so restricted that amassing substantial firepower would have been difficult.

The rap music of today is an outgrowth of the mid-1970s hip-hop, a brash mixture of rhythm and boastful talking. Out of nowhere, the Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight," rhymed over CHIC's "Good Times" and cut in 1979, became a commercial hit on the R&B, pop, and U.K. charts.By the early 1980s, hip-hop pioneers, such as Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Kurtis Blow (the first rapper signed to a major label, Mercury Records), the Funky Four Plus One, and Run-D.

Although best known for slogans such as "By Any Means Necessary" as well as posters depicting him with a gun, Malcolm X was a very complex man. An ex-convict, Malcolm X's strength, charisma, and intelligence only underscored the potential the nation tucked away in its prison systems. The Autobiography of Malcolm X, published months after his death, offered insight into who he once was, who he became, and who he might have been.