Black History Month honors the achievements, adversities, and legacy of African Americans in the United States. At StoryCorps, we are amplifying Black voices in conversations about activism, love, joy, and leadership. Explore our collection of stories to reflect on our shared history and to celebrate the impact of Black historical figures and pioneers.
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Stories About Black Love and Family
The Family Equation
In celebration of Black History Month, we released a new animation, “The Family Equation” — a story told by Dr. William Lynn Weaver about the lesson his dad taught him that extended beyond the classroom.
Walnut Street
You Move Me
This love story started with a song. It was Brooklyn in the late 1950s. Jay McKnight and his friends spent summer evenings outside, singing a cappella. One night, Jay caught the ear of a girl named Andrea. Jay and Andrea McKnight came to StoryCorps in New York to share their childhood romance, growing up, and growing old together.
Grandma’s Hands
Side by side, hand in hand—Madzimoyo Owusu remembers always feeling protected by her grandmother, even when they would just sit in silence. At StoryCorps, she opens up to her daughter, Johannah, about how her grandmother’s gentle, yet powerful spirit—and hands—left a lasting imprint on her life.
“Your Heart Is On Protein Powder:” Reflections On Love And Family
Mason Best seems to have a lot on his mind. At 12 years old, he already has a lot of thoughts on life and love. Mason came to StoryCorps at his local Boys Club in Queens, NY. He decided to invite his mom, Roseann Smith, to sit down for a conversation. The duo got right to the serious stuff.
Rules of the Road
Raised in New York City, Maritza Bell never learned how to drive. Later, her husband Danny tried to teach her. At StoryCorps, Danny and their daughter, Sydia, fondly recall how a driving lesson gone wrong turned into a legendary family story.
Nearing The End Of Her Life, They Sat Down For One Last StoryCorps Conversation
In the early 1970s Jackie Miller and her husband adopted their son, Scott. Thirty-seven years later — in 2008 — Scott came to StoryCorps with Jackie to talk about their relationship and to find out more about the history behind his adoption.
Stories About Pioneering Change
After Four Decades In The Classroom, A Texas Teacher Is Keeping History Alive
Nelva Williamson grew up in a small town near Cape Cod, MA. Her mother was a teacher for 52 years and her father was a career military man. Nelva grew up with a love and respect for learning that she carried with her throughout her life. As a young woman she found herself drawn to the classroom, and 42 years later that’s still where you will find her. Nelva came to StoryCorps with her son Timothy J. Harris to reflect on her 42-year career and the importance of teaching ‘the whole history.’
She Was One Of The First Black Teachers At Her School, But, “There’s No Color When You’re Learning To Read.”
Eunice Wiley was brought on as one of the first Black teachers at a predominantly white Florida elementary school in 1970. From the start, it was clear her job would be an uphill battle. Her room had no supplies. The principal didn’t want her to be there. And her class of 20 white first graders had spent little time around Black people. But she persevered, starting a career in education that lasted until she retired as a principal in 2005. Wiley came to StoryCorps in 2017 with her friend and fellow teacher, Martha Bireda, to remember how these experiences came to define her as a teacher.
Uncovering A Family Connection To The Origin Of Kansas City Barbecue
Growing up in Kansas City, Bernetta McKindra was always surrounded by barbecue. But it wasn’t until later in life that she learned more about her grandfather Henry Perry, the man who is credited with creating Kansas City’s iconic barbecue style. Bernetta came to StoryCorps with her friend, Raymond Mabion II to talk about her grandfather, and the food legacy he’s passed down.
A Life In The Rodeo: A Bull Riding Champion Looks Back
It was a summer day in 1968 when a traveling carnival pitched its tent just outside South Central, Los Angeles. Then 11-year-old Charlie Sampson visited with his Boy Scout troop. He remembers the monkeys, bears and snakes. But it was the pony ride that really caught his attention. Charlie would later take a job cleaning horse stables in exchange for riding lessons. Eventually, a group of older cowboys took him under their wing and showed him how to rope and ride bulls. He came to StoryCorps with his son, Daniel Sampson, to talk about life as a father and a traveling cowboy.
StoryCorps Then and Now: The Griot of Knoxville
As a part of our 20th anniversary celebrations, we bring you the story of a man who integrated his high school as a teenager in Knoxville, Tennessee, and how a StoryCorps listener comment helped him reckon with his past five decades later.
Stories About Inspiring Future Generations
Labor Of Love
Mary Stepp Burnette Hayden was born into enslavement in Black Mountain, North Carolina. She was 7 years old when she was freed. She stayed in Black Mountain and became a midwife, delivering several hundred babies including her own grandchildren. Her granddaughter, Mary Othella Burnette, came to StoryCorps with her daughter, Debora Hamilton Palmer, to honor the family matriarch.
Breaking Baseball’s Color Barrier: How Jackie Robinson Inspired One Man “To Be Somebody”
On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball when he took Ebbets Field for the Brooklyn Dodgers. That day is a historic marker for racial progress, but his journey to becoming the first African American player in the majors began in Daytona Beach, Florida — a year earlier.
It All Starts With A Song
Everyone’s heard of James Brown and Stevie Wonder, but how about the women who helped make them who they are? For our last episode of this season, we’ll get to know the unsung icons behind some of the most iconic music.
“On August 19, 1958, I Was Seven.” An Oklahoma City Woman Remembers Being a Child Activist
The sit-in movement was a cornerstone of the Civil Rights era, and perhaps best known for the Greensboro Four—a group of college students who sat in at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in North Carolina in 1960. Rooted in nonviolence, sit-ins became a far-reaching advocacy strategythat spanned lunch counters, department stores, courtrooms, and the White House.
In 2015, Wendell Scott became the first African American person inducted in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, he poured his heart, soul, and all of his earnings into maintaining his own race car. In this StoryCorps Animated Short, his son, Frank, remembers what it took for his father to cross the finish line at racetracks throughout the South.