W.E.B. Du Bois’s little-known, arresting modernist data visualizations of the African American plight for socioeconomic equality, which he created for and exhibited at the Paris World’s Fair in 1900 to thunderous acclaim. 

Happy 99th birthday to the amazing Katherine Johnson, who computed the trajectory that landed Apollo 11 on the moon.

Gwendolyn Brooks, the first black writer to win a Pulitzer Prize, was born 100 years ago today. Here is her lovely 1969 ode to why we read. 

On this day in 1993, Toni Morrison became the first African American woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. Her spectacular acceptance speech about the power of language remains perhaps our greatest manifesto for the responsibility embedded in how we wield the tool that stands as the hallmark of our species. 

Preaching to the Chickens – how civil rights legend John Lewis’s humble childhood incubated his heroic life.

The great Audre Lorde on silence and the empowering vulnerability of visibility

Happy birthday, Mary Lou Williams! A lovely illustrated homage to the great composer, jazz pianist, and trailblazing woman of color. 

Freedom in Congo Square – a magnificent illustrated ode to finding dignity amid oppression and the soul-preserving power of joy.

1891 studio portrait of the trailblazing black equestrian rider Selika Lazevski by photographer Félix Nadar, who had some witty and wise things to say about gender stereotypes. 

The great Ralph Ellison, born 103 years today, on race and the power of the writer in society in a rare 1966 interview.