By Nancy MacLean (NHC Fellow, 2008–09; 2021–22) and Edward H. Peeples Scalawag tells the surprising story of a white working-class boy who became an unlikely civil rights activist. Born in 1935 in Richmond, where he was sent to segregated churches and schools, Ed Peeples was taught the ethos and lore of white supremacy by every adult … Continued
By Ellen Anne McLarney (NHC Fellow, 2011–12) In the decades leading up to the Arab Spring in 2011, when Hosni Mubarak’s authoritarian regime was swept from power in Egypt, Muslim women took a leading role in developing a robust Islamist presence in the country’s public sphere. Soft Force examines the writings and activism of these women—including scholars, … Continued
By Jeffrey C. Stewart (NHC Fellow, 1990–91) A tiny, fastidiously dressed man emerged from Black Philadelphia around the turn of the twentieth century to mentor a generation of young artists like Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Jacob Lawrence and call them the New Negro—the gender ambiguous, transformative, artistic African Americans whose art would subjectivize … Continued
By Muhammad Qasim Zaman (NHC Fellow, 2000–01) From the cleric-led Iranian revolution to the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan, many people have been surprised by what they see as the modern reemergence of an antimodern phenomenon. This book helps account for the increasingly visible public role of traditionally educated Muslim religious scholars (the `ulama) … Continued
During much of the nineteenth century, middle-class American women saw their behavior regulated by a social system known today as the cult of domesticity, which limited their sphere of influence to home and family. Within that space they developed networks and modes of expression that allowed them to speak out on major moral questions facing … Continued
Why would someone bring a can of beer to a memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.? Why would someone project a photograph of Breonna Taylor, a black health care worker killed in her sleep during a global pandemic, onto the base of a memorial to Robert E. Lee? The short answer to these … Continued
What can comics teach us about African history, the Cold War, and African American activism? The 2018 blockbuster movie Black Panther brought Afro-Futurism to the big screen to tell the story of T'challa, the king of Wakanda, a mythical African nation that is the world’s most advanced civilization. The film was based on the Marvel … Continued
How did the Black Panther Party influence the world? We will examine the monumental impact of the Black Panther Party (BPP) on non-African American groups both domestically and abroad as a model for grassroots community organizing to address disparities and disadvantages. Moreover, the lesson will demonstrate why and how groups emulated the BPP as a … Continued
Rosa Parks is a familiar figure in textbooks. Yet much of what people learn about Mrs. Parks is narrow, distorted, or just plain wrong. She’s trapped in a single moment on a long-ago Montgomery bus, too often cast as meek, tired, quiet and middle class. The boycott is seen as a natural outgrowth of her … Continued
The work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is largely taught in the context of the Civil Rights Movement. Students are familiar with the iconic events of in Washington D.C., Selma, and Birmingham. However, we focus less on his dedication to other causes, including the anti-Vietnam War activism and the Poor People’s Campaign. Historian Peniel … Continued