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On July 16th, 1862 Ida Bell Wells-Barnett was born, better known as Ida B. Wells was an African-American journalist, newspaper editor, suffragist, sociologist, and an early civil rights activist. Wells led an anti-lynching crusade in the United States in the 1890s and eventually went on to create and become an integral part of groups striving for African-American justice. Wells was also active in women's rights and the women's suffrage movement, establishing several notable women's organizations. She became well known through her pamphlets exposing the culture of lynching and the real reasons that lynching became the epidemic it was. In 1941 the Public Works Administration built a Chicago Housing Authority public housing project in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the south side of Ch

On June 17th, a white man shot and killed nine people at a bible study at a black church in Charleston, South Carolina. It also happened to be the first day of Ramadan, and that tragedy struck a chord with many in the black Muslim community. Following the tragedy there were fires at predominantly black churches, which prompted several Muslim American organizations to join together and raise funds to help rebuild those churches. Donna Auston, a Rutgers University Ph.D. student and black Muslim activist initiated the #BlackMuslimRamadan Twitter campaign on Wednesday, July 15 to illuminate the issues of racism among Muslims and celebrate the heritage of African-American Muslims. In speaking to the Huffington Post, Donna Auston said, "Thinking about the value of black sacred life

On Tuesday, a Reddit user uploaded an audio file on the subreddit Hip Hop Heads, which was supposedly a rough recording of West's newest album "Swish". The Reddit user said that it was recorded outside of a listening party for the new album saying, "these are a bunch of recordings stitched together." The audio file has since been removed from Reddit, it is reportedly still available to download and stream on Sharebeast. It's a nearly one-hour long recording of such bad quality that very little can be understood aside from West's song "All Day" and other random bits and pieces of potential songs. A rumored track list for "Swish" was also shared on the internet, and if that track list is real we can expect to hear the rumored song "Piss On Your Grave" from West and Sir Paul McCartne

On July 7th, Newark mayor Ras Baraka, son of legendary activist Amiri Baraka spoke to Huffington Post Live about the legacy left behind by his father who passed away last year at the age of 79. The mayor remembered his father's work, that championed the black experience and was very divisive amongst critics. "Some of the problems we have can begin being addressed by art," he said. "People don't necessarily believe or can't see that. I think you do better dropping a thousand artists into a community than a thousand cops. So I think my father's impact, even on my personal life, has been great." Amiri Baraka is best known for being a poet and playwright, as well as an integral part of the Black Arts Movement of the 1960's and 1970's. Baraka's career spanned nearly fif

This Sunday, pastors in primarily black churches across America will preach about the epidemic of HIV/AIDS in the African-American community. The fourth national Day Of Unity, organized by the NAACP, will bring the usually taboo subject into the heart of the African-American community through a place of power. Rev. Tony Lee, the pastor of Maryland's Community of Hope AME Church, is one of several clergy members to get tested for HIV in front of his entire church. The visual is a reminder to the members that HIV awareness is also an important part of the social justice fight in the African-American community to this day. "Anywhere there are instances of people falling short of the fullness God wants for them it's important for the Church to step in," Lee said in an interview

Kendrick Lamar has taken the time to try and unite warring gangs as well as bringing attention to different social issues, for as long as he's been on the music industry's radar. Lamar has used lyrics as well as album artwork to unite people, and is now moving to a whole new medium: Fashion. In his song "i" Kendrick says, "Brother Kendrick Lamar! He's not a rapper, he's a writer, he's an author! And if you read between the lines, we'll learn how to love one another! But you can't do that...I said you can't do that - without loving yourself first." Kendrick Lamar has teamed with Finish Line and Reebok to bring back the Reebok Ventilator, a sneaker that first came out 25 years ago. "It was really about getting to that success level where you can go back to your neighborhoo