Colette Coleman

Colette Coleman is an independent journalist focused on topics in race and equity, past and present. Her work has been featured in numerous publications, including The New York Times, Newsweek and The Chicago Tribune. Follow Colette @ColetteXColeman.

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How the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike Exapnded the Civil Rights Movement Beyond Race
Black History

The 1968 Sanitation Workers’ Strike That Drew MLK to Memphis

With the slogan, "I am a man," workers in Memphis sought financial justice in a strike that fatefully became Martin Luther King Jr.'s final cause.

Black History

How Literacy Became a Powerful Weapon in the Fight to End Slavery

Following Nat Turner's rebellion of 1831, legislation to limit Black people's access to education intensified. But enslaved people found ways to learn.

Peter Salem
American Revolution

7 Black Heroes of the American Revolution

They include a spy, a poet, a guerrilla fighter—and foot soldiers who fought on both sides of the war.

Red velvet cake
Annual Observances

7 Juneteenth Foods and Traditions

From eating red foods to promoting activism, Juneteenth traditions pay tribute to the liberation of America's enslaved.

Activism That Led to the First Black Marines
Black History

Activism That Led to the First Black Marines

A. Philip Randolph proved instrumental in urging FDR to open up the Marines—and other military branches—to African American recruits.