African-Americans
The Front Row
What to Stream: “Posse,” a Wild Western of High Purpose
The director Mario Van Peebles dramatizes the centrality of Black people as cowboys and townspeople in the history of the American West.
The New Yorker Documentary
The Transformations of Natural-Hair Care in “BABYBANGZ”
In Juliana Kasumu’s documentary about a New Orleans hairdresser, the “big chop” is far more meaningful than the average trip to the salon.
Dept. of Heirlooms
The Songs That Made Church a Home
“Lead Me, Guide Me” was the first hymnal commissioned for African American Catholics. But it was also something passed down, like faith itself.
Cover Story
Elizabeth Colomba’s “157 Years of Juneteenth”
The artist discusses Harlem and the necessity of painting Black bodies into historically white spaces.
The Front Row
“Thomasine & Bushrod” Is a Blaxploitation Western That You Need to Stream
Gordon Parks, Jr.,’s deft, exuberant film revises Western conventions in light of the experience of its Black protagonists.
Cultural Comment
A Visionary Show Moves Black History Beyond Borders
“Afro-Atlantic Histories,” now at the National Gallery of Art, offers an epic survey of the diaspora.
The Political Scene Podcast
Hollywood’s Fraught History with Black Audiences
The film scholar Aymar Jean Christian tells The New Yorker Radio Hour’s Ngofeen Mputubwele how Black audiences have repeatedly bailed Hollywood out at its most vulnerable moments.
Daily Comment
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Historic Nomination to the Supreme Court
The fact that Jackson is eminently qualified doesn’t mean that her confirmation hearing won’t be a bonfire of bad faith—far from it.
The New Yorker Interview
How Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Helped Remake the Literary Canon
The scholar has changed the way Black authors get read and the way Black history gets told.
The New Yorker Documentary
The Undersung Histories of Mardi Gras’s Black Indians
In the film “All on a Mardi Gras Day,” Michal Pietrzyk documents the tradition of a community of New Orleans artisans.
Annals of Gastronomy
The Rebirth of the Ebony Test Kitchen, a Home for Black Cuisine
The kitchen, which had a lasting influence on African American cooking, was recently saved from demolition and reconstructed for a forthcoming exhibit.
The New Yorker Documentary
Shaking the Foundations of the American Dream
In “The Game God(S),” Adrian L. Burrell pries open myths of modern Blackness and ties one of America’s greatest beliefs back to its greatest sin.
Annals of Inquiry
The Marxist Who Antagonizes Liberals and the Left
The renowned Black scholar Adolph Reed opposes the politics of anti-racism, describing it as a cover for capitalism.
Under Review
The 1619 Project and the Demands of Public History
The ambitious Times endeavor, now in book form, reveals the difficulties that greet a journalistic project when it aspires to shift a founding narrative of the past.
Afterword
How Bruce Foxworth Changed the Rules of the Game
The tennis pro specialized in defying expectations.
The Front Row
“Passing,” Reviewed: Rebecca Hall’s Anguished Vision of Black Identity
With a remarkable fusion of substance and style, Hall’s adaptation of Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel unfolds inner lives along with social crises.
Double Take
Sunday Reading: Commemorating Juneteenth
From the magazine’s archive: a selection of pieces about racial injustice and the abiding legacy of slavery.
On Religion
The Fight for the Heart of the Southern Baptist Convention
How the Convention’s battle over race reveals an emerging evangelical schism.
Our Columnists
The Importance of Teaching Dred Scott
By limiting discussion of the infamous Supreme Court decision, law-school professors risk minimizing the role of racism in American history.