Afro-American Legacy

05/21/2026

The Woodson Center Mourns the Passing of Founder and President Robert L. Woodson, Sr. - A visionary leader whose life's work transformed communities from the inside out.

Read our full statement here: https://woodsoncenter.org/news-and-media/press-releases/

04/14/2026

Joseph H. Dickinson was an organ maker and state legislator in Michigan. He served two terms in the Michigan House of Representatives representing Wayne County, Michigan's 1st District from 1897 to 1900. Dickinson was the second African-American to serve in the Michigan Legislature after William Webb Ferguson, who began his first term in 1893.

04/14/2026

William Webb Ferguson was the first African-American man elected to the Michigan House of Representatives.
After discrimination faced in a restaurant on August 15, 1889, Ferguson sued the restaurant manager, Edward G. Gies, in Wayne County Circuit Court. After losing this case, he appealed it to the Michigan Supreme Court in 1890 and won, the first case of racial discrimination in the state of Michigan.

Ferguson was sworn in as member of the Michigan House of Representatives from Wayne County 1st district on January 4, 1893. He served until December 31, 1896. Ferguson was a member of the Republican Party.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Webb_Ferguson

"A More Perfect Union Art Exhibit", for the U.S. Semiquincentennial Celebrating America's 250th Birthday, 2026.

02/27/2026

02/27/2026

Dr. Mildred Jefferson warned what happens when a society decides some lives don’t count.

The first Black woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School, she opposed abortion as a physician and a woman of conscience, and spent her life defending the dignity of every human life.

Her warning still matters.

02/09/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1FZmeGEKHR/

02/09/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1E5K8DyyUf/

In 1997, Justice Conrad Mallett became the first Black Chief Justice on the Michigan Supreme Court https://buff.ly/2G9BxG5

01/19/2026

https://youtu.be/5r98tT0j1a0?si=4SwA1tPkdRfYCXBE

Read the acceptance speech at nobelprize.org:https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1964/king/26142-martin-luther-king-jr-acceptance-speech-1964/Martin Luth...

12/24/2025

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilEKWOt1xbI&list=RDilEKWOt1xbI&start_radio=1

January 1992, Pasadena Civic Auditorium, Pasadena, CA, USASetlist:The Very Thought of YouThis Can't Be LovePaper MoonNature BoyMona LisaLush LifeNon Dimentic...