black history

Today, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) account for less than 3% of the countries institutions of higher learning; with only 107 still in operation. Majority of these colleges and universities were established after the American Civil War by abolitionist white missionaries with intent to educate the African American community.

                                                Aja Brown

Kimberly Evans Paige Many are unaware that behind some of the marketing and branding of the Coca-Cola product, Sprite, there is an African-American woman with a hefty resume and commendable experience.

    Hiram Rhodes Revels was the first African American to serve in the U.S. Congress. Read more about him below.  

After years of executing graceful pirouettes, and crisp dégagés, African American ballerina, Misty Copeland, finally danced her way to the top.

The verdict of the 1896 case of Plessy v. Ferguson held that segregated public facilities were constitutional as long as the black and white facilities were equal to each other. As a result of this, large portions of the United States had racially segregated schools. This started to change with the verdict made on May […]

Nat Love, aka Deadwood Dick, was born a slave on a plantation near Nashville, Tennessee in June 1854. Love’s father taught him how to read and write. He had no formal education. In 1869, at only 15 years old, he left his family and headed west with $50 in his pocket. He reached Dodge City, […]

Marcus Garvey was born on August 17, 1887, in Saint Ann’s Bay, Jamaica. In 1914, he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) with the goal of uniting all of African diaspora to “establish a country and absolute government of their own.”

Voting Rights Act Of 1965, August 1965 In August 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law with the goal of overcoming the legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevents African Americans from exercising their right to vote under the 15th Amendment in the Constitution of the U.S. The […]

As we now celebrate Black History Month, here is a reflection of a hometown establishment that was celebratory of African American culture 365 days a year. In 1986, then married couple Gerald Chaka, a member of the black cultural nationalist US Organization & Terry Chaka, a Rochester native and visual artist, opened Rochester, New York’s first […]