Jerry Pinkney’s Granddaughter Shares Life in His Studio
Jerry Pinkney’s granddaughter grew up inside his art studio — and for years, I had his books on my shelf without even knowing his name. Jerry Pinkney illustrated more than 100 children’s books over nearly six decades. He was the first solo Black illustrator to win the Caldecott Medal, the highest honor in children’s book […]
HeirSound Photo: Preserve Family Voices for Under $40
What Is a HeirSound Photo — and Why Does It Matter? An HeirSound Photo is a printed photograph with one powerful addition — a small audio QR code that plays the voice of the people in the image when scanned. I built my first one for under $40 using Canva and Google Drive. No subscription. […]
Cataract House Underground Railroad — Freedom’s Secret Hotel
Why Journalism Could Not Tell the Cataract House Underground Railroad Story By Esther Dillard | ERASED: The Untold American Story This piece explores the fascinating history of the Cataract House Underground Railroad. The Sound of the Falls The Cataract House Underground Railroad is a remarkable untold story in American history. I grew up thirty minutes […]
MLK III Interview: People, Legacy and Perfect Timing
I quietly prepared for this MLK III interview but much of it took me by surprise. Some conversations you prepare for, some you pray over. And some — if you are honest — you walk into with a quiet mix of excitement and terror that no amount of experience ever fully takes away. My conversation […]
NJ Black History Law: 5 Things Every Educator Needs to Know
In 2002, New Jersey passed an NJ Black history law that most Americans — including many New Jersey educators — have never heard of. It made the history and contributions of Africans and African Americans mandatory across every subject, every grade level, all year long. Not just in February. All of it. Dr. Patrick J. […]
What Did Your Father Teach You?
Why Documenting Family Stories Cannot Wait A few weeks ago I took a photo holding my mother’s picture. It was for a special my news team was producing — a reflection on the women of the Black Information Network and what Black Motherhood means to us. It was a professional assignment. But sitting there holding […]
What the Fibroid Slayer Told Me That Changed Everything
A conversation with Dr. Pierre Johnson — and the moment I had to be honest about my own choices Black women with fibroids are diagnosed at two to three times the rate of white women. Their disease is more advanced by the time they get care. And when they walk into a doctor’s office looking […]
What Happens When a Conversation Becomes a Teaching Moment
What Dr. IIbram Kendi’s Chain of Ideas Is Really About I want to tell you something about what it takes to sit across from someone whose work you deeply respect and ask them to open up a conversation that most people would rather avoid. Before I sat down to interview Ibram Kendi about Chain of […]
Yolanda Renee King: Black Cotillions, Legacy & Gen Z
She is 18 years old. She is headed to Columbia University to study human rights. And she carries one of the most recognizable names in American history. But when I sat down to talk with Yolanda Renee King — the only granddaughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King — what moved […]
Black Family Homelessness
How Sharell Matthis Survived Homelessness With Six Kids Black family homelessness in America does not always look the way most people picture it. Sharell Matthis had a home, a husband, six children, and a life she had built piece by piece. And then one morning, the pieces stopped holding together. Sharell Matthis did not choose […]
Black Senior Homelessness: He Worked His Whole Life Homeless
The Hidden Crisis of Black Senior Homelessness Black senior homelessness is rising at a rate that should alarm every one of us. And Donald Gardner’s story puts a human face on a crisis that most people never see coming. He says it was back when he was 68 years old. Donald worked as a cobbler, […]