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Black History Month

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Learn about black history and the story of the civil rights movement in Atlanta, the birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr. Join The Atlanta Journal-Constitution as we take a look at some of the most prominent individuals, events and stories that have impacted America, over the course of Black History Month.
Black History Month Coverage
Collage of Black History Month articles from AJC in February 2021.

Credit: Ric Watkins/AJC

Amid pandemic, racial strife, Black History Month Series still inspires
AJC reporter Ernie Suggs, the editor of the AJC Sepia Black History Month series, shows off his Afro in Dunwoody, Monday, Feb. 15, 2021. (Alyssa Pointer / Alyssa.Pointer@ajc.com)

Credit: Alyssa Pointer / Alyssa.Pointer@ajc.com

For many, an Afro isn’t just a hairstyle
Mashama Bailey is the James Beard award-winning executive chef and partner of the Grey in Savannah. (Courtesy of Cedric Smith)

Credit: Cedric Smith

Chef Mashama Bailey brings ‘a little bit of Black Power’ to the plate
Actress Nichelle Nichols wasn't sure that she wanted to continue portraying Lieutenant Uhura on the original "Star Trek" television show until Martin Luther King, Jr. — a Trekkie — convinced her that her presence on the show was valuable. (Paramount Television; Chick Harrity / AP)

Credit: Paramount Television

A conversation with MLK Jr. kept Nichelle Nichols from exiting Star Trek
Ella Baker, official of the Southern Conference Educational Fund, speaks at the Jeannette Rankin news conference on Jan. 3, 1968. AP Photo

Credit: AP

Ella Baker led civil rights movement from the shadows
Ma Rainey, right, appears in the touring show "The Rabbit Foot Minstrels" in an undated photo. She was born Gertrude Pridgett in Columbus, Ga., and became known as the "Mother of the Blues" through her appearances in the South and Midwest. The male actor is not identified. (AP Photo/HO)

Credit: AP Photo/HO

Ma Rainey, ‘Mother of the Blues,’ injected her music with color and controversy
Fred Gregory’s career as an astronaut spanned from 1978 to 1991, three shuttle flights and 456 hours in space. Courtesy of NASA

Former astronaut’s career links Tuskegee Airmen to International Space Station
Atlanta and Georgia
Black History Month 2019: Washer Women

Black Woman Magic: The Atlanta Laundry Workers’ Strike of 1881
Mary Spivey: The Morehouse Woman
Heritage trail restores African American history in Bartow County
How an interfaith friendship bolstered the fight for civil rights
AJC | Black History Month: Otis Redding

Otis Redding: Georgia native left legacy for the world
Mother Mathilda Beasley: The mystery of Georgia’s first black nun
Hosea Williams: His legacy lives on
Atlanta University Center: A symbol of educational excellence
History
This photograph shows a group of founding members of the Niagara Movement superimposed over an image showing Niagara Falls in the background; (l. to r.) front row, Henry L. Baily of Washington, D.C., Clement G. Morgan of Massachusetts, W.H.H. Hart of Washington, D.C., and B.S. Smith of Kansas; middle row, Frederick L. McGhee of Minnesota, Norris Bumstead Herndon, son of Alonzo Herndon, J. Max Barber of Illinois, W.E.B. Du Bois of Alanta, Georgia, and Robert Bonner of Massachusetts; back row, H.A. Thompson of New York, Alonzo F. Herndon of Georgia, John Hope of Georgia, and an unidentified man, possibly James R.L. Diggs. (Source: W.E.B. Du Bois Library, Special Collections & University Archives, UMass Amherst)

The Niagara Movement: A ‘mighty current’ of Negro activism
Million Man March: A day of atonement
Movin’ on Up: How a TV theme song motivates black America
29 reasons to celebrate Black History Month: No. 25 The Harlem Hellfighters
Black History Month: The Tuskegee Airmen

29 reasons to celebrate Black History Month: No. 16, Tuskegee Airmen
‘Do the Right Thing’: Why Spike Lee’s 1989 masterwork remains relevant
Negro leagues opened door to players who would change baseball forever
High-flying Hawks: Maryland Eastern Shore hoops broke HBCU barriers
Arts & Music
AJC Sepia Black History Moment | Prince

Prince: Why he still reigns, even in death
The Nicholas Brothers, shown in an illustration by Alleanna Harris. Used with permission. The acrobatic tap duo's iconic scene from the 1943 musical "Stormy Weather" is considered one of the greatest dance sequences ever. (Alleanna Harris)

Credit: Alleanna Harris

The Nicholas Brothers: Every generation’s dance heroes
Black History: Diahann Carroll

29 reasons to celebrate Black History Month: No. 27 Diahann Carroll
Black History Month 2019: The Chitlin’ Circuit

Chitlin’ Circuit: Black performers’ soulful showcase during segregation
Trauma
How the ‘Weeping Time’ became a lost piece of Georgia history

‘The Weeping Time’: Largest sale of enslaved blacks in U.S. history
Black History Month 2019: The Greenwood Massacre

Tulsa Race Riots: White mobs reduced Black community to rubble in 1921
Black History Month 2019: Double consciousness

Black double-consciousness: Du Bois’ century-plus concept still valid
More coverage of Black History Month from the AJC
Billie Holiday: The unforgettable Lady Day
In decades after Civil War, promise of West lured Black homesteaders
Toni Morrison’s prose peels back the pain, beauty of Black experience
Vivien Thomas: The Black man who saved ‘blue babies’
Georgia’s Critter Fixers: Black vets go from HBCUs to Nat Geo Wild
Kendrick Lamar: The rapper who won over academia
Tulsa Race Riots: White mobs reduced Black community to rubble in 1921
In Atlanta’s Washington Park, longtime residents work to preserve ‘living history’
AJC Deja News: Harvard student W.E.B. Du Bois quite an orator (1890)
The Black Woman
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - AUGUST 11: Simone Biles of the United States waves to fans after winning the gold medal during the Women’s Individual All Around Final on Day 6 of the 2016 Rio Olympics at Rio Olympic Arena on August 11, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Simone Biles: Gold medal Olympic gymnast soars to new heights
VIDEO: Celebrating Black History Month - Ida B. Wells

Ida B. Wells: Journalism Giant
Black History: Mary Mahoney

29 reasons to celebrate Black History Month: No. 24 Mary Mahoney
The Black Man
Marcus Garvey was a self-taught Jamaican social activist and black nationalist. He founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in 1914 and moved to Harlem in 1916, where he promoted black economic independence through his newspaper and businesses. His “Back to Africa” movement made him a lightning rod among black leaders and the FBI alike, and some historians have interpreted his conviction of mail fraud in 1922 as a politically motivated prosecution. He served two years of a four-year sentence in Atlanta before being deported to Jamaica in 1927. He later moved to London and died in 1940. (George Grantham Bain / Library of Congress)

Marcus Garvey’s audacious Pan-Africanism inspired black nationalism
Black History Month 2019: Richard Pryor

Richard Pryor: His mixture of pain, brilliance pushed comedy’s limits
Black History Month 2019: Muhammad Ali

The Louisville Lip: Muhammad Ali’s fighting words fueled a movement
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