Civil Rights
Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
Explore the people, places, events, achievements, struggles and stories that shaped our journey.
Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
Innovation, patents, science, technology and world-changing contributions.
Pioneers, champions, Negro Leagues, records, activism and excellence.
Meet the people whose lives, choices and achievements shaped the journey.
Black towns, communities, institutions and places where history happened.
Moments that changed communities, movements, institutions and the nation.
Wilmington, North Carolina once had a thriving Black middle class and an elected interracial government. In 1898 white supremacists used violence to overthrow that government, kill Black residents and drive many others from the city.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
Samara, known as Kuybyshev from 1935 to 1991, is the largest city and the administrative centre of Samara Oblast in Russia. It is sited at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara rivers. The city has a population of over 1.14 million residents, with up to 1.22 million residents in the urban agglomeration (not including Novokuybyshevsk, which is not conurbated). The city covers an area of 541.4 square kilometers (209.0 sq mi), and is the ninth-largest city and tenth-largest agglomeration in Russia, and the third-most populous city on the Volga and in the Volga Federal District. Formerly a closed city, Samara is now a large and important social, political, economic, industrial, and cultural centre in Russia and hosted the European Union—Russia Summit in May 2007. It has a continental climate characterised by hot summers and cold winters. The life of Samara's citizens has always been intrinsically linked to the Volga River, which has not only served as the main commercial thoroughfare of Russia throughout several centuries, but also has great visual appeal. Samara's riverfront is one of the main recreation sites for both local citizens and tourists.
A samara (, UK also: ) is a winged achene, a type of fruit in which a flattened wing of fibrous, papery tissue develops from the ovary wall. A samara is a simple dry fruit, and is indehiscent (not opening along a seam). The shape of a samara enables the wind to carry the seed farther away from the tree than regular seeds would go, and is thus a form of anemochory. In some cases the seed is in the centre of the wing, as in the elms (genus Ulmus), the hoptree (Ptelea trifoliata), and the bushwillows (genus Combretum). In other cases the seed is on one side, with the wing extending to the other side, making the seed autorotate as it falls, as in the maples (genus Acer) and ash trees (genus Fraxinus). There are also single-wing samara such as mahogany (genus Swietenia) which have a shape that enables fluttering. Some species that normally produce paired samaras, such as Acer pseudoplatanus, can also produce them in groups of three or four.
The VAZ-2108, known as the Lada Samara in much of Western Europe, is a series of small family cars produced by Soviet/Russian vehicle manufacturer AvtoVAZ under the Lada brand between 1984 and 2013. The model name Samara originally was used only for exported models, in the Soviet Union the same model was called Sputnik ("fellow traveler", "satellite") until 1991, when the sedan version of the Samara entered in production, using the export name. It was the first front-wheel drive serial car built in the Soviet Union since the LuAZ-969V. The Samara was repeatedly modified and restyled during the years of production before it was finally discontinued in December 2013.
Samara Oblast is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Samara. From 1935 to 1991, it was known as Kuybyshev Oblast. As of the 2021 Census, the population of the oblast was 3,172,925. The oblast borders Tatarstan in the north, Orenburg Oblast in the east, Kazakhstan (West Kazakhstan Province) in the south, Saratov Oblast in the southwest and Ulyanovsk Oblast in the west. It is located in 3 natural landscape zones: the forest zone (coniferous and broad-leaved forests), the basis of which is pine-oak forests, pine forests and broad-leaved forests with the participation of oak and maple. Spruce occasionally joins them. Areas of the southern taiga are found on the coast of the region. The forest-steppe zone occupies the central regions of the region and is represented by a combination of areas of broad-leaved forests, most often oak and meadow steppes. Red deer, roe deer, elk, and sometimes bears are found in these forests. The south of the region is occupied by steppes consisting of typchak and sagebrush.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Madam C.J. Walker