National

  • Dr. Alvin Poussaint

    Harvard Medical School scholar Dr. Alvin Poussaint, who passed away February 24, was a renowned psychiatrist and educator whose research included studying the ways racism and discrimination impact African Americans’ self-esteem and mental health, including Black children and young people.

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  • Teaching Black History

    Dr. Carter G. Woodson, “the Father of Black History,” was born in Virginia in 1875 to parents who had both formerly been enslaved. When his family moved to Huntington, West Virginia, they were close to Frederick Douglass High School, one of the rare high schools open for Black students, but he remained largely self-taught while working in the local coal mines to help support his family first.

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  • Black Workers, Black History

    Every February, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), the organization established in 1915 by “the Founder of Black History” Dr. Carter G. Woodson, designates a theme for the observance of Black History Month.

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  • Service Announcements

    Starsky Wilson becomes First Black Chair of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

    On Wednesday, January 29, Children’s Defense Fund President and Chief Executive Officer, Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson, assumed the gavel as chair of the Board of Trustees for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). He was elected to the role in July 2024, after serving as a trustee since January 2022. He chaired the Nominating and Governance Committee for the last year.

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  • Writing the Next Chapter

    In the days following President Barack Obama’s first inauguration, the preparations for Black History Month felt especially joyful. That was a moment when the entire nation could see Black history and American history being written at the same time.

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  • A Lesson from Dr. King

    The week honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in our nation ended under a barrage of threats to Dr. King’s vision and values and attacks on long-deserved, hard-earned protections and progress for millions of people.

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