2 Lives, Well Lived: John Lewis and C.T. Vivian

July 20, 2020

Both men rose up bloody and never raised their hands to fight back. Instead, they continued to march, go to jail and remain true to Dr. King’s nonviolence movement.

The Agony of Emmett Till and George Floyd

June 17, 2020

I thought about Emmett Till as I watched the video of George Perry Floyd dying in the street. I can never forget George calling for his mother before taking his […]

Joseph Lowery: The Dean of Hope

April 7, 2020

The civil rights leader, a co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, died on March 27.

The Freedom of Toni Morrison

August 7, 2019

When she learned of the much-honored novelist’s death, our writer thought about all that Morrison meant to her as a writer and a black woman.

A Conversation With Lonnie Bunch

October 11, 2017

When most people think of Lonnie G. Bunch III, they think about the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, which he has served as director for the […]

A Fallen Tree: The Life and Times of Dick Gregory

August 22, 2017

Comedian and activist Dick Gregory died Aug. 21 at the age of 84 in Washington, D.C. Biographer Shelia Moses penned this remembrance.

A Life Well Lived: Iconic Journalist Gwen Ifill Dies at 61

November 28, 2016

An appreciation for the “Washington Week” moderator and managing editor, who passed away Nov. 14.

A Walk in the Park … Rose Park, That Is, With David Dunning

August 10, 2016

Unless you are vacationing in Paris, there is no place more beautiful than Georgetown on a Saturday morning. The fair weather and bright flowers colored my path as I set […]

A Walk in the Park … Rose Park, That Is, With David Dunning


Unless you are vacationing in Paris, there is no place more beautiful than Georgetown on a Saturday morning. The fair …

The Peabody Room’s Jerry McCoy — and Its Prize Possession

July 21, 2016

When you first meet special collections librarian and archivist Jerry McCoy, he appears as much a mystery as the materials he guards so closely at the Peabody Room in the […]