Source: Apple / Apple Celebrates Black History Month Following the civil unrest that swept across the country and world following the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, big tech companies pledged to do more to help push Black racial equity initiatives. Apple is making sure the energy is being kept. Tuesday (Jan.26), as part of its celebration of Black History Month, Apple unveiled a limited edition “Black Unity” Apple Watch. The smartwatch will be a part of Apple’s Black Unity Collection of products and is dressed in the colors featured in the Pan-African flag. The limited smartwatch is a standard Series 6 Apple Watch that will launch on February 1st and will be available at Target and Apple stores. It will feature a unique watch face that “creates an ever-changing ...
Source: Universal History Archive / Getty Shirley Chisholm achieved a number of amazing firsts during her lifetime, and now an upcoming film will examine more of the late politician’s exploits. Danai Gurira will play Chisholm in The Fighting Shirley Chisholm, which is not framed as a biopic according to a new report. Variety writes that Gurira, best known as the sword-wielding Michonne of The Walking Dead, will occupy the titular role and the film will take a deeper look at Chisholm’s historic run as the first Black candidate of a major political party to be nominated to run for president and her time on the campaign trail. From Variety: Though Gurira will play Chisholm, the movie is not a biopic, instead focused more centrally on the campaign and how “the Chisholm Trail was po...
Source: Jemal Countess / Getty Hip-Hop is, by far, the most influential culture that spans generations while also sparking and reviving trends new to old, and new again. While there remains some debate surrounding the origin of Hip-Hop music and culture, the term itself has many claims on its name and we’ll examine that in full below. 1520 Sedgwick Ave The most storied example of the origin of Hip-Hop music and culture points to August 11, 1973, where Jamaican-born DJ Kool Herc hosted a party for his sister inside a rec room inside 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in The Bronx, New York City. This story has been told and retold countless times and several proponents of the culture recognize Herc’s contribution as the prominent moment it remains. The disc jockey born Clive Campbell borrowed...
Source: Andrew Lichtenstein / Getty The tragically short life of Emmett Till became a tipping point for the Civil Rights Movement, and his enduring legacy serves as a reminder not much as changed in America. However, the nation will recognize the church that held his funeral will be listed as one of the Most Endangered Historic Places in the United States. According to a report from the Chicago Sun-Times, the Roberts Temple Church of God In Christ in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood was the site of Till’s funeral, with the 14-year-old’s badly beaten and bloated body on display for the world to see the horrific crime and shame his murderers publicly. According to lore, it was a three-day event that was attended by thousands and received national media recognition. The National Trust for H...
Source: Jeenah Moon / Getty As the blazing fires burn down to warming embers and the cacophony of voices shouting loud for Black lives lower, the work that remains to be done still looms heavy. The fight against racial injustice has never felt more purposeful and with today being Juneteenth, it is immediately important to examine the history of the day while continuing the quest for freedom. Known as Freedom Day, Liberation Day, and also Emancipation Day, June 19 marks when Union Army forces from the north arrived in Galveston, Texas to finally deliver federal orders that slavery was officially ended. While President Abraham Lincoln reluctantly approved the Emancipation Proclamation, which went into effect on January 1, 1863, slaves in Texas remained in the dark for two years in the Lone S...