America’s first black millionaires were born into slavery — and built wealth alongside political power.
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The Thrill (and the Heavy Emotional Burden) of Blazing a Trail for Black Women Journalists
Dorothy Butler Gilliam remembers how exciting it was to integrate The Washington Post, but also how lonely — and often attacked — she felt as the first black woman reporter in the newsroom.
Dispatch from Puerto Nowhere
Robert Lopez examines what it means to be an assimilated American from Puerto Rico, and what was gained and lost in the process.
Queens of Infamy: Josephine Bonaparte, from Martinique to Merveilleuse
Even the Reign of Terror was no match for a determined young woman with a pug and a prophecy on her side.
Longreads Best of 2018: Business Writing
We asked writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here is the best in business writing.
Moonshine: The Black Tradition of Distilling ‘White Whiskey’
If craft food culture looks overwhelmingly white, it’s because black influences have been routinely scrubbed from its history.
“We Are Not Lost Causes”
How youth in Rochester, New York, are working to save their neighborhood — and themselves — by forging pathways away from violent street crime.
The South Carolina Dylann Roof Knew
For GQ, Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah travels through the state that taught Roof a perverted viewpoint of the antebellum period.
Shapes of Native Nonfiction: ‘The Basket Isn’t a Metaphor, It’s an Example’
The editors of “Shapes of Native Nonfiction” talk about the craft of writing, the politics of metaphor, and resisting the exploitation of trauma.
Stories to Read in 2019
A dozen exceptional stories from 2018 that deserve our ongoing attention.
