The Origins of Lynching Culture in the United States
Paula Giddings, professor of Afro-American Studies at Smith College, discusses the history and origins of lynching.
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The Role and Challenges of a Free Press
Reporters and media professionals discuss the functions and importance of a free press in a democracy.
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The Sterilization of Leilani Muir
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This documentary traces the life of Leilani Muir, the first person to file a lawsuit against the Alberta government for wrongful sterilization, and provides background on the history of eugenics in the early 1900s.
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Verifying the Story
Journalists discuss the difficulties they faced in verifying the facts after the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
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Wesley Lowery's Arrest
Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery describes how he was arrested in Ferguson, Missouri, and explains how freedom of the press was threatened during the protests.
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The Influence of "The Birth of a Nation"
The three-hour silent film The Birth of a Nation did “incalculable harm” to Black Americans by creating a justification for prejudice, racism, and discrimination for decades to follow.
![Member of Ku Klux Klan holding a torch on a horse.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/REC_12_The_Birth.jpg?h=da7ce804&itok=o8NJxzoX)
A Lifeline for Democracy
In her 2005 commencement speech at the University of Vermont, Ruth Simmons describes experiences that helped her escape the poverty and discrimination of her youth to become the president of Brown University.
![Book cover of American flag with faces over it.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Reconstruction_cover_large.jpg?h=51bee232&itok=yY8xN3AK)
Louisiana White League Platform (1874)
The White League was a paramilitary group responsible for widespread violence against black and white Republicans in Louisiana and Mississippi. The group’s platform from 1874 is articulated here.
![Book cover of American flag with faces over it.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Reconstruction_cover_large.jpg?h=51bee232&itok=yY8xN3AK)
Family Names
Learn how filmmaker Macky Alston learned about the history of his family name and its connection to his family's legacy in the United States.
![Bayeté Ross Smith’s 2010 series "Our Kind of People" examines how clothing, ethnicity, and gender influence our ideas about identity, personality, and character.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/2010_OurKindofPeoplecombined_FH2170284.jpg?h=52649bae&itok=_jsHfuii)
Family Names
In Spanish, learn how filmmaker Macky Alston learned about the history of his family name and its connection to his family's legacy in the United States.
![Bayeté Ross Smith’s 2010 series "Our Kind of People" examines how clothing, ethnicity, and gender influence our ideas about identity, personality, and character.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/2010_OurKindofPeoplecombined_FH2170284.jpg?h=52649bae&itok=_jsHfuii)
A Strength of My Neighborhood
A high school student describes how his neighborhood in Los Angeles helps him feel connected to the traditions of his family’s “old world” heritage in Mexico.
![Female student learning in a classroom.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/2015_AD9A0664_FH221025.jpg?h=59f9d53c&itok=m4cVPcs7)