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Panoramic collage of Black history and contemporary life across Africa, the Americas, and Europe

Black History Matters

The Past is Present

History written for readers, not for footnotes.

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Diaspora Dashboard · Week of October 26, 2026

This week in the global Black world

  • France

    Second national day of marches under tight limits

  • Brazil

    Lula wins the October 25 runoff

  • Haiti

    Our Haiti series continues this week

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Black Thread · Issue One · November 2026

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Our power, our future. Eight deeply reported stories in Issue One — from Black Studies and Anita Hill to Sylvester, Haiti, Black Brazil, HBCU sports, and global racism. Join before November 1 and your $9.99/month rate is locked in for life.

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Our Purpose

Why this platform exists

Historianspeaks is a public history project devoted to making the Black past reachable — free of jargon, free of paywalls, and free of the flattened, one-note version of the story most of us were handed in school.

Through essays, conversation, and archival material, this site treats history as a working tool: something that explains the present and helps chart what comes next.

Collage of archival photographs, letters, and books from Black history

Blog

Black History Now

Weekly blogs on Black history—past and present that shape our contemporary lives.

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Podcast

The Historianspeaks Podcast

Long-form conversations running from Reconstruction politics to popular culture. Latest episode: Juneteenth and a legacy of song.

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Across the Centuries

A collage of the Black past, in color

From the marketplaces of West Africa through the age of sail, plantation colonies, Reconstruction classrooms, the Harlem street, and today’s block parties.

The African past: Kingdoms, scholars, and markets

The African past

Kingdoms, scholars, and markets

15th century: Coastal trade and early contact

15th century

Coastal trade and early contact

16th century: Arrival and resistance in the Americas

16th century

Arrival and resistance in the Americas

17th century: Arrival and resistance in a new world

17th century

Arrival and resistance in a new world

18th century: Artisans and free communities

18th century

Artisans and free communities

19th century: Freedom schools after emancipation

19th century

Freedom schools after emancipation

20th century: City life, music, and movement

20th century

City life, music, and movement

21st century: Culture and community today

21st century

Culture and community today

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One dispatch a week: a new essay, a podcast episode, and something from the archive worth a second look.