“You know, Debra, your daughter was the first Thompson born in America since Cornelius Thompson escaped slavery. It’s been over 150 years, and some days I think we came back too soon.”
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The Racist Healthcare System that Failed JaMarcus Crews
“Donated kidneys are a precious, limited resource, and once again, Black Americans are at a disadvantage.”
Sold Back Into Slavery, She Sued for Restitution — and Won
Morgan Jerkins tells the story of Henrietta Wood — a woman sold back into slavery after being freed — who in 1878 was awarded $2,500, the largest known sum of restitution for enslavement by a United States court.
Searching for the Mountaintop in Upstate New York
A family confronts its racial past along the Appalachian Trail.
Longreads Best of 2021: All of Our No. 1 Story Picks
Here’s every story that was chosen as No. 1 in our weekly Top 5 email.
Queens of Infamy: Njinga
The Portuguese colonizers of West Central Africa learned it the hard way: you mess with the Queen of Ndongo and Matamba at your own peril.
Between Jesmyn and Ta-Nehisi
Author Jesmyn Ward sits down with Ta-Nehisi Coates to discuss slavery, superheroes, and how much you have to hate yourself to enjoy being famous.
I Will Always Love You: A Dolly Parton Reading List
Happy birthday, Dolly Parton! Here are seven longreads about the American singer-songwriter.
Our Democracy’s Founding Ideals Were False When They Were Written. Black Americans Have Fought to Make Them True.
As part of the New York Times Magazine‘s 1619 package commemorating the 400th anniversary of the beginning of slavery in America, Nikole Hannah Jones writes about the crucial influence of black Americans — through resistance, and a never ending fight for equal rights for all — on democracy in this country. “More than any other […]
