In 1962, a radical black nationalist organization called the AFROs (Afrikan Foundation for Righteous Out-of-sight Sons) was formed in Cleveland, Ohio. By 1965, the group had caught the attention of both the FBI and the CIA, who recruited a small group of 5 black women to infiltrate the organization. One of the Read More
welcome to this year’s first official edition of Your Nappy Ass Roots, a series that will bring you little known black history facts that The Man has tried to suppress in an effort to keep us all complacent, misguided, and misinformed. i’m all about teachin the babies; please pass these important facts along to any Read More
While he was campaigning in Virginia before their primary, Barack Obama stopped at T.C. Williams High School for a town hall meeting. This is where the real-life story that inspired Remember the Titans took place: a Denzel Special where a football team helps integrate the school heal the racial wounds — nay, souls— of a Read More
The Black Panther Party for Self Defense was formed in Oakland, Calif., by Huey P. Newton, Bobby Seale, and Bryant L’Anthony Gumble in 1966. A spirited speaker and eloquent writer, Gumbel penned the Panther’s Ten-Point Program manifesto and spearheaded the group’s breakfast program for neighborhood children. After concern was raised about the power that Gumbel Read More
Mr. Wendal has freedom, a freedom that you and I think is dumb: Free to be without the worries of a quick-to-diss society — for Mr.Wendal’s a bum.
In the early 90’s, when many rappers claimed to represent the underground, few of them could claim to be more underground than Das EFX — two emcees raised in the sewers of Brooklyn and trained as ninja warriors by a five-foot, talking rat.
Telebaptist and Grammy award winner Bobby Jones was born in Henry, Tennessee, in 1939. He began singing in the church choir at New Hallelujah Jesus Shout Temple, also located in Henry, and had dreams of becoming a famous gospel singer at a very early age. At 23, he released his first album entitled “The Lord Read More
In 1984, musician Morris Day of Morris Day and the Time successfully sued the Black Hebrew Israelites, who would not grant him inclusion due to his chemically straightened hair. With his winnings, Day bought Jerome Benton, who has happily served as Morris Day‘s mirror-wielding manservant since then. In 2005, Morris Day recorded a diss track Read More
In 2004, political activist Al Sharpton announced his candidacy for the presidential election as a member of the Democratic party. To express his endorsement of Sharpton and encourage others to support him as well, singer Terrence Trent D’arby put together a video entitled “I Mean, I Guess We Can if We Pray Hard Enough” in Read More
Formed in Oakland in 1964, popular R&B band The Whispers consisted of five members, two of whom were twins. By the 1970s, they had amassed a fan base so large it alarmed the CIA, who became suspicious that the group may have been a front for terrorist activity. In 1973, The Whispers were arrested after Read More
