African American

BETHEL, Maine -- Leaning forward, gently shifting her weight at each turn, Janet Anderson coasted into the base hill at Sunday River with a swoosh, then taxied her way back into the lift line. Her runs that day were not her best, she admitted: "My knees are killing me. " There was a time when Anderson's only discomfort on the slopes came from the stares and double-takes she received from other skiers, almost all of them white and, she suspects, almost all of them unaccustomed to seeing an African-American skier.

Radio pioneer Harold "Hal" Jackson, a staple of New York radio, has died. He was in his late 90s. Jackson died Wednesday in a hospital, said Deon Levingston, vice president and general manager at WBLS, a station owned by Inner City Broadcasting, which Jackson co-founded. Paul Heine, senior editor at Inside Radio, a trade publication, said Jackson "was the godfather of black radio. " "His longevity and his breaking down the doors, breaking the color barrier, he really made it possible for African-Americans who followed him to work in the medium," Heine said.

SHREVEPORT, La. — When she turned 113, Mississippi Winn could still stand up on her own and never thought her age was a detriment to her life. The upbeat former domestic worker from Shreveport, known in the city as “Sweetie,’’ died Friday afternoon at Magnolia Manor Nursing Home, said Milton Carroll, an investigator with the Caddo Parish coroner’s office. He said he could not release her cause of death. Ms. Winn was believed to be the oldest living African-American in the United States and the seventh-oldest living person in the world, said...

(Patrick D. Rosso/Boston.com/2012) Members of the William E. Carter Post making their way along Shawmut Avenue to the Edward O. Gourdin Veterans Memorial Park in Dudley Square. By Patrick D. Rosso, Town Correspondent Saturday was a day of remembrance for residents of Roxbury and the surrounding communities as they came together to reflect on the people of color who gave their lives defending the United States. Held at the Edward O. Gourdin Veterans Memorial Park in Dudley Square, the 9th Annual African-American Military Heritage Day,...

OAK BLUFFS - Gail Rice was jogging near her summer home in East Chop, on the northern tip of Martha’s Vineyard, a few years ago when she passed a tall, thin African-American man gazing at the water. He looked familiar. Isn’t that the politician, she wondered, who had electrified the Democratic National Convention in 2004? It was, but he hardly stood out on an island that is a favored getaway for some of the nation’s most notable and accomplished African-Americans. Nobody, of course, will have any problem recognizing Barack Obama when he returns to the island later this month.

WASHINGTON - Though the tent was crowded with living history - President Obama, Representative John Lewis of Georgia, Colin Powell, Steve Case, Al Sharpton, and Laura Bush - the speakers at the groundbreaking of the African-American museum emphasized the future. And not just the impact of having the National Museum of African American History and Culture on the National Mall. But also the learning legacy it will give the children of the future. "The time will come when few people will remember drinking from a colored water fountain or boarding a...

Has Boston moved beyond its racially turbulent past? We asked five minority leaders why they decided to build their lives here. They offered reflections that took on more urgency following last week's racist tweets directed at a black hockey player. The numbers on race, Boston and business The Commonwealth Compact surveyed its 125 corporate and institutional signers in 2008 and found that 13 percent of African-Americans, 10 percent of Asians, and 9 percent of Latinos were in midlevel to senior executive jobs, compared to 17 percent of whites.

For more than 60 years, the Freedom Trail has told the story of America's struggle for freedom. About 1.5 million people walk the faded red brick trail each year, visiting such storied sites as Faneuil Hall, Old North Church, and the Paul Revere House. But there is another Boston-based story of a struggle for freedom, one told by the lesser-known Black Heritage Trail, which explores the history of the African-American community on Beacon Hill in the 1800s and the abolitionist movement that was rooted there.

The now-rundown Roxbury house where Malcolm X lived in the 1940s would get a makeover and be turned into housing for graduate students in African-American studies or related fields, under a new agreement signed by a Boston preservation organization and a nephew of the slain black leader. "This would be great for the family and for Malcolm's legacy," said Rodnell Collins, 67, whose late mother, Ella Little Collins, owned the house on Dale Street and was Malcolm X's half-sister.

In the story of the Civil Rights Movement, pride of place is often given to religious African Americans like Martin Luther King, Jr., who used the power of religious ideas to-motivate and inspire millions of Americans. Writing for the Religious News Service , Kimberly Winston points out that there were plenty of African American atheists involved in the movement . They're often overlooked, she argues, because their atheism doesn't fit in with the usual Civil Rights narrative.

Darrell Wallace Jr. has already crossed off a bunch of boxes on the checklist for a future NASCAR star. He dominated as a kid in karts, blew past the field in bandoleros and late models, and landed a seat for Sunday's NASCAR Nationwide race in Iowa even though he won't turn 19 until October. Heck, Wallace even has the perfect NASCAR nickname: "Bubba. " But Wallace's undeniable skills aren't the only reason he's getting noticed. In a sport that's been almost the exclusive domain of white male drivers, it's impossible to overlook Wallace.

For more than 60 years, the Freedom Trail has told the story of America's struggle for freedom. About 1.5 million people walk the faded red brick trail each year, visiting such storied sites as Faneuil Hall, Old North Church, and the Paul Revere House. But there is another Boston-based story of a struggle for freedom, one told by the lesser-known Black Heritage Trail, which explores the history of the African-American community on Beacon Hill in the 1800s and the abolitionist movement that was rooted there.

In her previous novel, "A Mercy," Toni Morrison gave us the ancestors to the cast of her great novel about slavery, "Beloved. " Her latest novel, "Home," conjures their descendants: African-Americans living in 1950s America, a country they call home, but which provides them no warmth or shelter. It is a short, swift, and luminescent book. It also resembles nothing she has ever written. From "The Bluest Eye," published in 1970, to "A Mercy," released four decades later, Morrison's work has created an essential footbridge between American speech and American modernism.

Former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell urged graduating Northeastern University students Friday to follow their passion in everything they do and to become active participants in a world that sorely needs their talents. "As each of you looks toward your future, always focus on finding that which you do well and that which you love doing," Powell told nearly 3,200 new graduates at TD Garden. "Do something that gives you satisfaction every day and makes our society a better place.

Twenty years ago this week, a jury acquitted the Los Angeles policemen who beat motorist Rodney King, and the city exploded in a six-day riot. Before it was over, there were more than 50 deaths, about 2,500 injuries, and half a billion dollars or more in property damage. The riot led to alarming predictions that a new age of urban unrest might be at hand. What happened in the next two decades, though, was very nearly the opposite: Cities in the United States have been relatively riot-free over the last two decades.

HAMTRAMCK, Mich. - The prom countdown was nearly complete, the do-it-yourself Greek columns, pink and white tulle bows, and plastic flutes with the "Once Upon a Dream" logo awaiting the evening of evenings. But as she looked at her reflection in the mirror, her one-shoulder lavender gown matching the elaborate hijab that framed her face in a cascade of flowers - a style learned on YouTube - Tharima Ahmed knew that what lay ahead was more than simply a prom. As organizer of Hamtramck High School's first all-girl prom, which conforms to religious beliefs...

Controversy alert! A new working paper by three professors at Duke -- Peter Arcidiacono and Esteban M. Aucejo, economists, and Ken Spenner, a sociologist -- is arguing that we ought to be pessimistic about the ability of affirmative action programs to close the academic achievement gap between the most- and least-prepared students. The paper, " What Happens After Enrollment? An Analysis of the Time Path of Racial Differences in GPA and Major Choice ," hasn't even been published yet, but it's already igniting arguments . President Kennedy first introduced the term...

When I came to Boston as a 17-year-old back in early '70s, my friends used to give me a standing ovation when I came home to Pittsburgh. It gave me a lot of street cred. Everyone was aware of Boston's troubled image, especially people of color. Around the nation, the famous Ted Landsmark photo [of an antibusing protester using an American flag as a weapon against an unarmed black man] was engraved in their minds. So much has changed since then. Boston is not the city of the 1970s or '80s.

Has Boston moved beyond its racially turbulent past? We asked five minority leaders why they decided to build their lives here. They offered reflections that took on more urgency following last week's racist tweets directed at a black hockey player. The numbers on race, Boston and business The Commonwealth Compact surveyed its 125 corporate and institutional signers in 2008 and found that 13 percent of African-Americans, 10 percent of Asians, and 9 percent of Latinos were in midlevel to senior executive jobs, compared to 17 percent of whites.