If you want to understand the role that race has played in Madison’s past and present, Settlin’: Stories Of Madison’s Early African American Families is an essential read. Its author, educator and Edgewood College faculty member Muriel Simms, began interviewing people for the book in the early 2000s, focusing on people who descended from African […]
Black Jazz Musicians Find ‘Utopia’ in Denmark
Why is American jazz great, Ben Webster, buried in Copenhagen? That’s the question our next guest asked herself after stumbling across the legendary saxophonist’s tombstone while visiting Denmark. It turns out that hundreds of African Americans traveled to the tiny Scandinavian nation and found what many of them described as a sort of European utopia […]
Art Exhibit: Home is Where the Racism Is
From May 16 through May 18, the Yatra Gallery in one of the old Milwaukee Road train cars at Madison’s converted train station at 646 West Washington Avenue, will host the art exhibit, “Home is Where the Racism Is.” The show features photos, interviews, historical documents and personal narratives from a wide variety of African-American, […]
Hidden Voices: African American Writers in Wisconsin
Since April of 2017, three of the current literary lights of Madison’s African-American community have travelled around Dane County to talk about three literary giants from days gone by. Former Madison poet laureate Fabu, Inspiring Destiny founder and novelist Sherry Lucille and playwright Catrina Sparkman have been hitting the road with “Hidden Voices: African American […]
A more complete story
When you think of “historic preservation,” you probably think a lot about buildings. That’s certainly how people in charge of local historic preservation efforts in Madison have tended to think about it for many years. The people behind a new project at the city of Madison are hoping to change that, making historic preservation more […]
Madison365 Highlights African American Leaders in Wisconsin
(WORT) — Madison365 recently published “The 28 Most influential African Americans in Wisconsin.” Noting community and political leaders in the state, the list sought to highlight African American leaders who are prominent in Wisconsin.
