Author: Rachel Stoler

https://www.npr.org/2025/05/02/nx-s1-5380993/national-poetry-out-loud-high-school-students

Four teens on why they like poetry

District of Columbia: Nyla Dinkins
Age: 16
Benjamin Banneker Academic High School
Washington, D.C.
Favorite poem to recite: Learning to Read by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper

“Although it is a competition, there’s definitely community,” said Dinkins, who was a finalist in 2024. “I remember some of my fondest moments from last year for Poetry Out Loud were backstage with the other eight finalists. And I just remember that even though there was a lot of anticipation and fear back there, there was also a lot of laughter.”

https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2025/04/27/g-s1-61299/griots-legendary-africa-archaeology

The kingdom of Kaabu held power from the 1500s through the 1800s and included modern-day Guinea-Bissau and Senegal.

The story of Kaabu’s royalty and reign has been told for generations through the songs of griots. In fact, much of what’s known about the kingdom and its capital city Kansala has been passed down by griots.

“It played a key role in many events of historical importance for the world, including early African statehood,” says Sirio Canós-Donnay, an archaeologist at the University of Valencia.

Yet it was reportedly never visited by Europeans (even though there was contact — the people of Kaabu did trade with the Europeans).

Canós-Donnay wanted to know what this real-life Camelot looked like.

In early 2024, she and her colleagues, including a handful of Senegalese archaeologists, began the work of unearthing Kansala. They’ve since uncovered physical evidence of the kingdom’s capital.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephine_Baker

Freda Josephine Baker (née McDonald; June 3, 1906 – April 12, 1975), naturalized as Joséphine Baker, was an American-born French dancer, singer, and actress. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in France. She was the first black woman to star in a major motion picture, the 1927 French silent film Siren of the Tropics, directed by Mario Nalpas and Henri Étiévant.^[3]

https://www.npr.org/2021/11/30/1059776777/josephine-baker-france-pantheon

PARIS — Josephine Baker, the American-born entertainer and civil rights activist who first achieved fame in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s, was given France’s highest honor on Tuesday when she was inducted into the French Pantheon, the nation’s mausoleum of heroes.

https://bookshop.org/p/books/josephine-baker-s-secret-war-the-african-american-star-who-fought-for-france-and-freedom/da4d3a43846fee5a?ean=9780300279986&next=t&source=IndieBound

Before the Second World War, Josephine Baker (1906-1975) was one of the most famous performers in the world. She made her name dancing on the Parisian stage, but when war broke out she decided not to return to America. Instead, Baker turned spy for the French Secret Services.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Holder

Geoffrey Lamont Holder (August 1, 1930 – October 5, 2014) was a Trinidadian-American actor, dancer, musician, director, choreographer, and artist.^[2][3] He was a principal dancer for the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, before his film career began in 1957 with an appearance in Carib Gold. For his theatre work, he won two Tony Awards, Best Direction of a Musical and Best Costume Design in a Musical for the original Broadway production of The Wiz.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2025/04/25/g-s1-62501/time-magazine-icon-most-influential-angeline-murimirwa

Angeline Murimirwa of Zimbabwe has really racked up kudos for her work as head of CAMFED, a charity that has enabled millions of girls in five African countries to stay in school — and thrive with the help of mentors. Murimirwa is one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2025.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradford_Blackmon

Bradford Jerome Blackmon (born December 21, 1988)^[1] is an American attorney and Democratic Party politician from Mississippi. A son of state representative Edward Blackmon Jr. and state senator Barbara Blackmon, he was elected in 2023 to succeed his mother in the Mississippi State Senate.^[2][3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jake_Blount

Jake Blount is an American musician and writer based in Providence, Rhode Island.^[1] He specializes in the traditional music of African Americans,^[2] and his work has been described as “Afrofuturist folklore.”^[3] Blount, while initially recognized for his skill as an old-time banjo player and fiddler,^[4][5] is a versatile multi-instrumentalist and vocalist who has described his music as “genrequeer.”^[6] He often performs most of the parts on his recordings, and fluently employs modern instruments and production techniques in his performances of centuries-old repertoire.^[7] His work critiques popular notions of genre^[6] and linear time,^[8] and usually centers themes of social and environmental justice.^[7]

https://www.elijahmanley.com/about

Born and raised in the heart of Fort Lauderdale’s historic Sistrunk community, Elijah Manley knows firsthand the struggles that too many families in South Florida still face today. Raised by a hardworking single mother and growing up in deep poverty, Elijah experienced chronic homelessness, food insecurity, and the harsh realities of living paycheck to paycheck. He understands what it’s like to go to school hungry, to live without electricity, and to wonder where his family would sleep at night.

Ethiopian girls are changing tradition through skateboarding

https://www.npr.org/sections/the-picture-show/2025/04/29/nx-s1-5379904/biscuits-and-banjos-music-festival-photos

Dedicated to Black music reclamation and exploration, Biscuits & Banjos is a new music festival curated by Grammy-winning artist Rhiannon Giddens. The festival took place this past weekend in Durham, N.C., and featured artists like Taj Mahal, Infinity Song, Rissi Palmer and a Carolina Chocolate Drops reunion. It also incorporated Durham’s Black history with a walking tour of Black Wall Street, panel discussions, square and line dancing, and a juke joint-themed party with drag performances.