Black History Month

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.

Credit: Devinne Moses for the AJC

FROM UATL

A century of Black history. Eleven years of bearing witness.

The AJC again examined the people, power and pivotal moments that continue to shape America.

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

‘Sponge parks’ and underground vaults: Inside Atlanta’s fight to stop floods

As Atlanta grows, new infrastructure projects aim to address longstanding flooding issues in the city's Black communities. Critics say there's much more work to do.

Credit: National Museum of American History & Smithsonian Institution Archives

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Her art is in the Smithsonian. A descendent is uncovering her Georgia past.

The quilts of Harriet Powers, born into slavery, are being memorialized with “Forever” stamps as a great-great-great-granddaughter digs deeper into her Georgia life.

SPECIAL FEATURE

W.E.B. Du Bois revisited

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reimagined Du Bois’ pioneering ‘Exhibit of American Negroes.’

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

They were expelled from the Georgia Legislature. Now they’re honored.

At a Capitol ceremony highlighting the “Original 33 Memorial Act,” state Rep. Carl Gilliard and other lawmakers commemorated the first Black legislators in Georgia history.

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

FROM UATL

Rooted in resilience: Black Georgia farmers talk land and legacy

From Sparta to Albany, some Black farmers in Georgia’s Black History Month are proudly representing the land passed down from their ancestors with respect and dignity.

Credit: Devinne Moses for the AJC

Before it is erased: The race to preserve ‘Weeping Time’ slave sale site

The Savannah land where more than 400 Black slaves were auctioned in 1859 was recently put up for sale. Advocates see a chance to memorialize what's known as Weeping Time.

Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC

FROM UATL

How Nuface became Atlanta’s unofficial hip-hop historian

Atlanta's Larry Compton has spent the past four decades documenting, collecting and celebrating the city’s musical history.

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC

FROM UATL

As Delta’s first Black flight attendants, they were ready for social change

Interview with Delta’s first Black flight attendants Patricia Grace Murphy and Phenola Culbreath, who prevailed through opportunities, challenges to land a place in history.

Credit: Devinne Moses for the AC

How Black gospel changed my white life

Lesson 1: Don’t operate heavy machinery the first time you listen to Marvin Sapp.

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

FROM UATL

Reimagining Langston Hughes’ ‘The Weary Blues’ for young readers

Atlanta-based illustrators contribute artwork to 'Melodies of the Weary Blues,' a children's picture book commemorating the 100th anniversary of Langston Hughes' poetry book.

Credit: Natrice Miller

Atlanta’s DAs, mostly women of color, are working to change the game

Metro Atlanta’s top prosecutors say their shared experiences make them uniquely qualified to deal with the challenges faced by their increasingly diverse communities.

Credit: The Atlanta Journal Constitution

FROM UATL

Atlanta in Black and white: A century of becoming

Newly surfaced photographs reveal protest and pageantry, terror and triumph, showing how 100 years of Black history shaped the city’s conscience and character.

Today’s Videos

Now Playing

Spaghetti Junction was built to fix Atlanta traffic. Why is it still a nightmare?

Georgia may stop changing clocks twice a year. What it means for you.

A Georgia facility trains ICE agents. Former instructors say standards have slipped.

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Atlanta & Georgia

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

A Homegoing to Remember

Willie Watkins honors the dead with funerals that celebrate Black lives with dignity and flourish.

The past was bright but the future looks bleak for Herndon Stadium

Herndon Stadium was one of HBCU football's most storied venues, even hosting Olympic events, before Morris Brown College was forced to sell it. Now it might be demolished.

After 37 years, Atlanta’s OG graffiti crew resurfaces

Operating in the early 1980s when graffiti was a bad word, United Kings was the city’s first graffiti crew.

History

Credit: University of Southern California’s HMH Moving Image Archive

Why an early silent film kiss between two Black actors is so important

The 1898 silent film "Something Good - Negro Kiss" is thought to be the earliest known cinematic depiction of intimacy between Black actors.

Georgia’s 12-string master left a lasting musical legacy

Blind Willie McTell, the Georgia-born 12-string guitar bluesman, recorded dozens of songs in the 1920s and 1930s, and is a member of the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.

Atlanta’s Black Streaks reached top of early 20th century motorcycle racing

Atlanta's Black Streaks were Black motorcycle racers who raced the tracks at Atlanta Motordrome and Lakewood Speedway more than 100 years ago.

Arts & Music

Credit: Ric Watkins / AJC

Georgia’s Mount Rushmore of music

James Brown, Ray Charles, Otis Redding and Little Richard all came out of poverty, changing the world with soulful music. They are Georgia's Mount Rushmore.

The legend of Mattiwilda Dobbs

Atlanta native Mattiwilda Dobbs, aunt of Maynard Jackson, was one of the first African-American opera singers to perform on major stages around the world.

The museums at Atlanta’s HBCUs are treasure troves of Black art

The art museums of Clark Atlanta University and Spelman College, two of the HBCUS in Atlanta, are treasure troves, including works by Henry Ossawa Tanner, Hale Woodruff, Eliza...

Resistance

Credit: Courtesy Cecil Williams

Cecil Williams’ high-risk drink of water

Cecil Williams: how his defiant photo at a white water fountain changed him and defined a movement.

Black hairstyles take a stand against white beauty standards

Since the 1930s, Atlanta hairstylists and beauty influencers have made the city a hub for the celebration and preservation of Black hair culture and its history.

Black gays practice resistance daily being their authentic selves

SUNDAY LIVING: 021923 BHM Peon Resist – In 1921, a white farmer and a black man who worked for him were convicted in the murders of 11 black men in Newton County.

Health

Credit: Jenni Girtman

Black women, long ignored in infertility discussions, speak out

Black women are more likely to face infertility issues than white women, studies show.

Despite progress, HIV remains disproportionately Black in Georgia

Though African Americans make up only about 32 percent of the state’s population, around 71 percent of the roughly 2,500 Georgians who were newly diagnosed with HIV in 2019 we...

Study: Toxins in blood of Brunswick residents who live near factories

As some Superfund sites around Brunswick, Georgia, are clearned up, a team of Emory scientists have found evidence of contaminants in some residents' blood.

Trauma

Tulsa Race Riots: White mobs reduced Black community to rubble in 1921

The story of the Tulsa race massacre from 1921: The Greenwood neighborhood, a Black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma once nicknamed the Negro Wall Street, because of its thriving

To My Old Master

‘The Weeping Time’: Largest sale of enslaved blacks in U.S. history

In 1859, Pierce Mease Butler decided to sell 436 enslaved African Americans who worked his plantations in order to settle his massive debts.

The Black Woman

Credit: Stephen B. Morton for The Atlanta Journal Constitution

Novelist Tina McElroy Ansa was a trailblazer at The Atlanta Constitution

Tina McElroy Ansa became the first Black woman to be hired at The Atlanta Constitution newspaper in 1971.

In Atlanta and across U.S., legacy of ‘Queen of Salsa’ as strong as ever

The inimitable Celia Cruz helped popularize Afro-Caribbean rhythms – and Spanish-language music overall. But to one metro Atlanta rwoman, she was just "tia."

‘Sister President’ Johnnetta Betsch Cole: The voice of Spelman

Author Tayari Jones writes about Johnnetta Cole. As a first year student, Jones recalls being transfixed and transformed by the college’s first Black woman president.

The Black Man

Credit: National Library of France

The long, sad ride of Major Taylor

The story of pioneering Black cyclist Major Taylor. the first authentic and recognized Black sports superstar in America.

Lo Jelks, Atlanta’s first Black television reporter

When Lorenzo Jelks joined WSB-TV in 1967, the station didn't show his face on air to avoid angering many white viewers.

Tiger Flowers: Trailblazing southpaw left indelible legacy on Atlanta

Long before Evander Holyfield, Atlanta had another champion who helped put the city’s boxing scene on the map.

Credit: Northeast Georgia Health System

What would you do if you recognized opportunities in your nursing unit?

Credit: Getty

Northside Hospital and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution know how much nurses need some relaxation. To help, we’re...

Credit: Wellstar Health System

More than two decades into her career at Wellstar Health System, Deidre Jenkins wasn’t ready to retire — she was ready...

Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC

FROM UATL

My love for Black Barbie is an ode to my ancestors

Playing with dolls — especially Black Barbies — allowed me to imagine myself as anything. Only later did I understand that this was never just play.

Credit: Broly Su / AJC

The legacy of the Black grocers of Reconstruction

The oppressed entrepreneurs of the late 1800s capitalized on low grocery prices to build businesses that influenced Atlanta’s present-day institutions.

Credit: Ben Hendren for the AJC

‘History will judge us’: Former Atlanta mayors defend minority contracting

Former Atlanta mayors have joined an effort highlighting the importance of the city's minority contracting program and its economic impact.

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

FROM UATL

King’s refurbished SCLC headquarters joins National Park System

The Prince Hall Masonic Temple and Lodge on Auburn Avenue, where the civil rights leader directed national campaigns, will reopen as part of the Martin Luther King Jr. Nationa

Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC

His dream led to an aviation career. He’s still inspiring Black kids to fly.

John Bailey's first taste of flying was the spark that would eventually lead him to launch Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines’ annual Dream Flight in 2000.

Credit: Courtesy of Nancy Clanton

Growing up with racism and breaking the cycle

I was 11 when Black History Month began, but it took a couple of decades to learn what it really meant.

Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC

Former CDC employee reflects on gains made through now-shuttered DEI programs

From a Tuskegee Study apology to vaccine distrust, Benita Harris spent her career at the CDC battling racial disparity in health care.

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Art Shell: NFL’s first modern Black head coach — and what came after

The sparse history of Black head coaches in the NFL remains a weighty backdrop to this year's Super Bowl.

Credit: Philip Robibero / AJ

FROM UATL

For Walter White, the 1906 Atlanta Race Massacre sparked a reckoning within

For Walter White, who would later gain fame as the executive secretary of the NAACP, Blackness was a choice.

Credit: AP

FROM UATL

When Georgia tried to silence Julian Bond

Julian Bond's fight to be seated in the Georgia Legislature led to a landmark Supreme Court case on free speech.