slavery

A statue of Edward Colston towers over a square off Colston Avenue in Bristol, England. A small plaque calls Colston "one of the most virtuous and wise sons" of the city. Officials plan to install another plaque explaining his links to the Atlantic slave

World News

An English City Grapples With The Slave-Trading Past Of Its Most Celebrated Figure

10:54am March 28, 2018

He's known as "one of the most virtuous and wise sons" of Bristol, but the philanthropist Edward Colston made his fortune as a 17th century slave trader. Many want his name erased from city landmarks.

Detainees stand in a hall at a detention center for migrants in Al Kararim, Libya. The North African country is a key transit spot and destination for migrants seeking employment or a path to Europe.

World News

Migrants Captured In Libya Say They End Up Sold As Slaves

8:18pm March 21, 2018

by Ruth Sherlock

Men detained en route to Europe in Libya tell NPR that guards held them for ransom and sold them off to other detention centers and ultimately into forced labor.

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White House Chief of Staff John Kelly listens as President Trump speaks at the White House on Oct. 19.

National

John Kelly Claims Civil War Caused By Lack Of Compromise. History Shows Otherwise

1:00pm October 31, 2017

by Camila Domonoske

The White House chief of staff made the remark during an interview on Fox News. Observers were quick to point out that decades of "compromise" on slavery preceded, and did not prevent, the Civil War.

The upstairs porch of Ann Blessing's home in Charleston, S.C. has been a stop on a popular historic home tour. For the first time, visitors will tour the kitchen where enslaved people once spent most of their lives, toiling over hot fires.

National

Looking 'Beyond The Big House' And Into The Lives Of Slaves

4:12pm September 13, 2017

by Sarah McCammon

A new house tour bypasses Charleston's antebellum mansions and takes visitors directly to the quarters where enslaved people lived and worked.

One of Twitty's projects is his "Southern Discomfort Tour" — a journey through the "forgotten little Africa" of the Old South. He picks cotton, chops wood, works in rice fields and cooks for audiences in plantation kitchens while dressed in slave clothi

A Black Food Historian Explores His Bittersweet Connection To Robert E. Lee

7:00am September 05, 2017

by Nina Martyris

Michael Twitty's enslaved ancestors witnessed the Confederate general's surrender, the significance of which weaves through his new memoir as he seeks 'culinary justice' for African Americans.

Race

Following The Trail To A Living Monument: Underground Railroad Tree

11:41am August 28, 2017

by David Ford

Guilford College faculty, staff, and students will come together in Greensboro this afternoon for a Unity March in response to the events in Charlottesville, Virginia.

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Protesters shout anti-Nazi chants after chasing alt-right blogger Jason Kessler from a news conference on Aug. 13 in Charlottesville.

World News

Explaining, Again, The Nazis' True Evil

8:12am August 19, 2017

by Scott Simon

NPR's Scott Simon tackles the painful legacy of the Nazi party and the enduring symbols of hatred used throughout history's atrocities against humanity, recently on display in Charlottesville.

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In the Caribbean territory of Guadeloupe, boudin is a food entrenched in the history of colonization and slavery.

Boudin: A Story Of Sausage, Slavery And Rebellion In The Caribbean

3:40pm May 04, 2017

by Melissa Banigan

This bloody fare was brought to the French territory of Guadeloupe by colonists, who set off deep racial tensions that still exist. But the messy sausage-making process also unites family and friends.

Emily Meggett (left) and Isabell Meggett Lucas sit together at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in front of a slave cabin on display that they grew up in.

National

Woman Returns To Her Slave Cabin Childhood Home In The Smithsonian

5:26pm April 14, 2017

by Ari Shapiro

This week, Isabelle Meggett Lucas got to visit her childhood home — in the Smithsonian, which moved the house from South Carolina to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

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Michelle Taylor and other participants work to reconstruct slave cabins at Montpelier, the Virginia estate of former President James Madison.

National

A Researcher Reconnects With Her Ancestors' Slave Past At Madison's Estate

6:22pm March 28, 2017

by Kelley Libby

Michelle Taylor is taking part in a project to reconstruct slave cabins at Montpelier, the estate of President James Madison. Through her research, she discovered a personal connection to the site.

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