In the summer of 1973, DJ Kool Herc tried something new on the turntables: by extending the beat, […]

We all have that one piece of clothing, be it a fresh new hat or a favorite pair […]

In 1979, Soul Train host Don Cornelius introduced the nation to five dancers who called themselves the Electric […]

“Whatever may be our quarrel with our fellow citizens in times of peace,” William Dawson wrote to the […]

In 1925, General Robert Lee Bullard, Commander of the U.S.’s Second Army during WWI in Europe, retired and released a book of memoirs: Personalities and Reminiscences about the War. Bullard had enjoyed a fairly distinguished career in the military peaking during the Great War. Yet, like many of this day, he harbored prejudices; most notably his dismissive attitude toward African American soldiers.

LeDaya Epps grew up in foster care until adolescence. When she finished high school, bouncing from job to […]

Evan Thomas-Arnold  When I started reading Ta-Nehisi Coates, sometime when he started writing for The Atlantic, I was […]

Every summer, ToM contributors revisit works that influenced them and meditate on how they’ve held up over the years […]