Black Michiganders have been shaping our state since day one. The impact of Black history extends into every aspect of culture: art, music, science, medicine, sports, and more.
Here, you can find some of the stories of African-Americans that may have been left out of your history book.
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Benjamin Hall's family has passed down one of their ancestor's freedom papers for generations. The document tells a piece of this family's history, and a larger painful legacy of chattel slavery in the United States. -
How the Board of Education is reacting to restructuring of the Michigan Department of Education, the history of one of the first African Americans to settle in the Lansing area and an artifact from his life, and a series on how opiate settlement money is being spent across Michigan. -
The Detroit People’s Food Co-Op – which has signed up 2,000 members so far – is part of Malik Yakini's vision for a more liberated future for Black folks in Detroit. -
East Lansing continues to mourn the losses of last year's mass shooting, the history of a Black neighborhood in Ann Arbor and the school that served it, and an upcoming album from the alt-country band Frontier Ruckus.
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LeRoy Foster was a prolific painter sometimes called "the Michelangelo of Detroit." He died in 1993. A new show at the Cranbrook Art Museum celebrates his life and art. -
A Wisconsin-based tribe trying to reclaim land sovereignty, Medicaid disenrollment, the Drive SAFE bill package, and an opera singer with roots in Michigan.
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Mary Lindsey grew up in Detroit, but her opera career took her to concert halls across Europe. Today she lives at Casa Verdi, a home for retired musicians in Milan, Italy established by composer Giuseppe Verdi. -
Renaissance High's Brooke White wants you to know more about Lincoln Alexander, who was the first Black Canadian member of Parliament in the House of Commons, the first Black federal Cabinet Minister, and the first Black Chair of the Worker's Compensation Board. -
Brandon Hill is a senior at Detroit's Renaissance High and a member of the Detroit Youth Choir. He wants you to know more about the choir and its director, Anthony White. -
Detroit’s Birwood Wall has been designated a historic Michigan site. It has a new marker in the park, telling the story of how and why the wall was built.
