About US: A Black man's request to his former enslaver: ‘Send us our wages’

The House district under threat from Florida's governor is steeped in Black history; Why I'm so concerned for WNBA star Brittney Griner; These famous women were friends? Read 5 stories of sisterhood and support.; Iowa scrapped teacher training on equity. Students of color felt the sting of that decision.; Her body washed ashore in Connecticut. The search for her family began.; An Idaho bill would criminalize medical treatments for trans youths. It echoes abortion bans.; Two years after Breonna Taylor's death, her family still wants answers: 'We still don't know what happened'; Are free buses a tool for social justice? Boston wants to find out.; Race in America: Rise in Anti-Asian Violence with Amanda Nguyen; Manhattan's Chinese street signs are disappearing; I know what it's like to be a Florida teen who can't say gay. I was one.; What's behind the wave of convictions for police and vigilantes? It's more than woke jurors.; The fearless woman who became one of SoCal's earliest Latina higher ed teachers ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Sign up for this newsletter Read online Candid conversations about identity in 21st-century America.     Please welcome today's guest host, Gillian Brockell, a writer for Retropolis, The Washington Post's history blog.   By Gillian Brockell  Email As a staff writer for The Post's history section, called Retropolis, I regularly hear from readers and critics that "people didn't know it was wrong back then." The "it" usually refers to slavery; what often goes unsaid is that "people" only refers to White people, or White enslavers, as though their opinions of the peculiar institution were the only ones available or the only ones that mattered. Several months ago, I came across the Rev. Jermain Wesley Loguen's letter to the wife of his former enslaver (who was also his biological father). The moral clarity and deep anger with which he demands to know the fate of his mother, brother and sister took my breath away. This sent me on a search for other letters like his and the best way to present them to our readers. These letters from Black Americans to their former enslavers give the lie to "people didn't know it was wrong back then." Of course people did, not the least of whom being the millions of enslaved people themselves. Their voices are bracing and brilliant, and I was surprised by how modern they sounded. The writers knew slavery was wrong for all the reasons we know it to be wrong today — the heartbreak of family separation, the prevalence of sexual assault, the theft of a laborer's wages, the inhuman denial of dignity and freedom. I hope you find these letters as edifying as I do. The painful, cutting and brilliant letters Black people wrote to their former enslavers These letters from Black Americans to the people who once controlled their lives show a desire for freedom and a desperate longing to be reunited with their families. By Gillian Brockell ●  Read more »   The House district under threat from Florida's governor is steeped in Black history By Lori Rozsa and Colby Itkowitz ●  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   Why I'm so concerned for WNBA star Brittney Griner Opinion ●  By Jason Rezaian ●  Read more »   These famous women were friends? Read 5 stories of sisterhood and support. By Janay Kingsberry ●  Read more »   Iowa scrapped teacher training on equity. Students of color felt the sting of that decision. By Kalyn Belsha ●  Read more »   Her body washed ashore in Connecticut. The search for her family began. By Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan ●  Read more »   An Idaho bill would criminalize medical treatments for trans youths. It echoes abortion bans. By Anne Branigin ●  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   Two years after Breonna Taylor's death, her family still wants answers: 'We still don't know what happened' By Taylor Killough ●  Read more »   Are free buses a tool for social justice? Boston wants to find out. By Joanna Slater ●  Read more »   Race in America: Rise in Anti-Asian Violence with Amanda Nguyen One year ago, a gunman killed eight people including six Asian women in Atlanta. The attack was one of a record number of anti-Asian hate crimes around the country since the coronavirus pandemic began. On Wednesday, March 16 at 3:00 p.m. ET, join Washington Post Live for a conversation with Amanda Nguyen, CEO of the nonprofit civil rights organization Rise, about the impact of these attacks, her organization's work and the role of education in raising greater awareness about the history of Asian American Pacific Islander communities. By Washington Post Live ●  Read more »     What we're reading Manhattan's Chinese street signs are disappearing By Aaron Reiss and Denise Lu | New York Times ●  Read more »   I know what it's like to be a Florida teen who can't say gay. I was one. By Kristen Arnett | Time ●  Read more »   What's behind the wave of convictions for police and vigilantes? It's more than woke jurors. By Christina Carrega | Capital B ●  Read more »   The fearless woman who became one of SoCal's earliest Latina higher ed teachers By Yvonne Condes | KCET ●  Read more »     Word on the street   We think you'll like this newsletter Check out Must Reads for a curated selection of our best journalism in your inbox every Saturday, plus a peek behind the scenes into how one story came together. Sign up »

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