Testimonials: What People are Saying about BlackPast.org

Senator Maria Cantwell and Quintard Taylor
Honoring BlackPast: Washington Senator Maria Cantwell and
Quintard Taylor in her Washington, D.C. office, June 18, 2015
BlackPast.org

Here are comments from individuals who have visited BlackPast.org. We welcome your comments if you would like to share them with our global audience.As you can see, they are posted along with the contributor’s name, hometown, and year of his or her comment.Please send your comments to [email protected]. We reserve the right to edit them to ensure appropriate language.

I was blown away by your amazing website. It is so thoughtfully curated, so marvelously laid out, so wonderful. Knowledge is power and history is important. I love that you are shining a spotlight on untold stories. I shared this resource with my coworkers and participants and will definitely be spending some time myself on blackpast.org to learn more. I just wanted to reach out with this appreciation for the work that you do. –Eileen Lewis, YWCA, St. Paul, Minnesota, 2020
I teach Pacific Northwest History, and when BlackPast.org started showing up in my students’ research, I was skeptical. I’m a stickler for vetted sources, and at first, we (my librarian and I) were unsure what the site was, and yet the information and writing were so good we okayed its use (this was in the early days before there was much detail on the site). In time, when I saw your name and others on the site, I knew it was legit. And it makes such a huge difference in my classroom. I am deeply committed to teaching a local history course that mirrors the real and diverse peoples and stories of our region, and that was a pretty tough thing for quite a while (no offense to the Denny Party, but that’s about as far as most of the textbooks go, and that’s just not good enough). BlackPast.org has been game changing. Thank you! –Tamara Bunnell, Seattle Public Schools, Seattle, Washington, 2018
I applaud BlackPast.org’s monumental achievement in assembling an encyclopedia documentation of African American history. BlackPast.org offers researchers, scholars, and the general public a trove of resource materials telling the story of people of African ancestry from the distant past through today. By better understanding the past, we chart a smarter course into the future.–Maria Cantwell, U.S. Senator from Washington, 2015
I just wanted to write a thank you for the work that you are doing and the history that you all are sharing.  It is so important for everyone to reclaim American Greats such as Harry Lawrence Freeman. Men and women long passed over, who lived, who created, who shared their passions and their visions, and inspired others are found on the pages of BlackPast.org.  Young people need to be inspired by the very real, very rich history in which they can choose to find themselves, and can willingly elect to participate in.—-Carlton Chase, Bronx, New York, 2015
Please allow me to thank you for providing us with such valuable historical information.  Now it is up to us educators to abide to our commitment and properly convey the information to our children, students, citizens, and community.–Rafael Brayan, La Romana, Dominican Republic, 2015
I came across BlackPast.org today totally by accident and boy am I glad I did! It is so very impressive. As someone who in a few months will be helping to place a state historical marker at a 131-year-old African American Cemetery, this site makes me even prouder that God has given us the opportunity to do this. Kudos to you and keep up the good work! –Pearl Taylor Vanderbilt, Marlin, Texas, 2015
Encyclopedic in scope, BlackPast.org’s collection of research materials including in-depth articles, photos, and documents, is an outstanding resource for the study of African American History. –Henry McGee, Harvard Business School, and former president of HBO Home Entertainment, 2014
Every black person should be aware of BlackPast.org especially the children. I will make sure my NAACP branch is aware and also all my friends. –James E. Frazier, Staten Island, New York, 2014
I found your website looking for an article about the Garner Incident (and I was not disappointed). When Black History Month arrives in Northwest Louisiana, almost every newspaper discusses the month exclusively in terms of civil rights leaders.   What about inventors? Scientists?  Military heroes?  Business leaders? Your site has the real history which includes all of them.  It is presented in a detailed and scholarly fashion. I am looking forward to reading the many fine articles. Thank you. –Bryce Denny, Mansfield, Louisiana, 2014
BlackPast.org is an international resource for people of all ages who are looking to learn and better understand African American and global African history. I am impressed so many passionate professional and amateur historians have volunteered time to develop and assemble this vast collection of original content.  BlackPast.org is committed to accurately documenting the history we all share and keeping it available for generations to come. I applaud the hundreds of people around the world, including those in the 10th Congressional District of Washington, who make this project possible.  I look forward to its continued expansion. –Denny Heck, Member of Congress, 10th District, Washington, 2014
I just got the link to your FB page and web site from my daughter.  One of the things I love best about history is that it always includes stories I’ve never heard–news about old stuff.  Your site is an absolute treasure!  Thank you so very much for all the work you do!–Steve Elmore, Salem, Oregon, 2014
This is just a note to tell you what a blessing the www.blackpast.org website is.  I find it a great resource for launching into new resources when I need information, because it isn’t always easily available elsewhere.  Recently I found the text of the sermon preached by Henry Highland Garnet on February 12th 1865 in the well of the U.S. House of Representatives for a project I’m working on.  I had known about it, but not read it.  Wow!  I sincerely appreciate the work you and your compatriots do to provide us with reliable information and great resources when our work requires it. –Lew Davies, Murrieta, California, 2014
In this day and age, everyone (even academics) uses the Internet for research, but the quality of what one finds varies greatly.  I’ve found that Wikipedia, though the handiest source, is often riddled with errors, and the “crowd-sourced” approach it uses means that there is no way to ensure real experts vet what is posted.  Thus, a newly discovered primary source cannot be cited on Wikipedia, while a complete inaccurate secondary source can be used as the basis of an entire entry.  When it comes to black history in particular, it’s important to ensure quality as well as quantity, too often  when we’re talking about the complexities of race in American history, what we want to find (the easy, feel good story) is quite far from what’s true.  BlackPast ensures access to high-quality history, and that provision of high-level research to the general public distinguishes it as much as its breadth and its subject matter. –Lois Leveen, Portland Oregon, 2013
Yours is the best website I have come across for timelines and seminal events in African American history and African American history in the American West.  I am passing BlackPast.org on to all of my friends.  Thanks for the great job.  I will get them to donate as well–Charles Moorer, Palm Coast, Florida, 2013
We use BlackPast.org to get background information for our writing projects, to find facts and figures for the kids in school, and to view multimedia for fun. BlackPast.org is a vast and impressive undertaking whose maintenance and expansion is a testament to the dedication of all those involved. This vast treasure trove is invaluable to independent learners everywhere. This is a great example of what the internet can be! We are indebted. Thanks so much. –-Sandra Davis, Garland, Texas, 2013
This is a great website. I found I had ancestors who lived at Davis Bend, Mississippi, an all black town utopian experiment after the Civil War.  I “googled” it and first read about it here at your website.  So many thanks for doing this.–Jasmine Williams, Atlanta, Georgia, 2013.
I am a librarian in the Atlanta suburbs and just wanted to shoot you a quick thank you for BlackPast.org. Each February I do a Black History Month collage and I find myself returning time & again to ransack your website for images. So I just wanted to let you know that this resource is very much appreciated by me & my library patrons! –Bruce Thompson, Powder Springs Library, Powder Springs, Georgia, 2013.
My grandfather was 6-years-old when he came to New Bedford from Brava, one of the less-developed Cape Verdean islands. He grew up to be a whaler. Today, many more of us live outside the islands than live there. Thanks for helping me remember my grandfather today. –Erin Texeira, Brooklyn, New York, 2012
So I was wondering why there has been no big Black Media blitz on the benefits of this website and the information it has to offer. I’m certainly going to send a donation in support. I feel, however, that it is one of our best kept secrets. There is so much power in the pages of this website. I want to encourage and thank you for the efforts of all involved. –Reginald Taylor, Durham, North Carolina, 2012
I can’t say enough for BlackPast.org and the blessing of having an equivalent “Google” as a reservoir, resource and illumination of Black history, now and in perpetuity. — Ron Ward, Seattle Washington Attorney (former President, Washington State Bar Association), 2011
BlackPast.org is a wonderful resource. As a librarian, I refer students and researchers to BlackPast.org on a regular basis. Our museum appreciates having some of its historical photographs on the site, thereby expanding access to our collections.—- Carolyn Marr, Librarian, Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI), Seattle, Washington, 2011
I’m very familiar with [BlackPast.org]. I truly think it’s wonderful. Even though I’m the university archivist I still use it in my classes. It is a valuable resource not only for African Americans but for all Americans.—-Angela Proctor, Archivist and Metadata Librarian, Southern University and A&M College, 2011
I recently came across your entry/article about the 1919 Courthouse Lynching in Omaha, Nebraska…Thank you for making sure that we never forget the terrible, evil things that were done to people of color. We must never, ever forget the price that the innocent victims of such hatred have paid, and we must all always strive to better our world — for every human being — so that these things do not happen to anyone for any reason. Thank you for your work in this regard. — Lita Ledesma, Washington, D.C., 2009.
My seven year old (2nd Grade) son had to write a paper on life in the 1700s as a colonist to including writing relatives back in Europe telling them of their experience.  We, first of all being black in the 1700s excluded the relatives part and secondly it was rough for blacks.  Your site has helped enlighten me on life for blacks in the 1700s.  Thus I am able to tell, advise, and help my son write an accurate depiction for blacks living in the 1700s because there were free as well as enslaved blacks.  Thanks for the information.–Steve Lash, Lithonia, Georgia, 2009
I am a Kenyan young man of 23 years and just completed law school. I am a huge supporter of Pan-Africanism and will never stop at anything until Africa unites for a better future for all Africans…I would like to congratulate you… for the things you are doing…You give many people like me enormous hope by looking at the erupting African ideals from before my time begins. Thanks guys, I love what you are doing. –Michael Sang, Nairobi, Kenya, 2008.
Blackpast.org was an important resource in our development of a display on the role of slavery in this county and the role African Americans had in the Battle of Prairie Grove as members of the 1st Indian Home Guard. Dr. Taylor and his staff have assembled a goldmine of information and the site is essential for students or anybody studying African American history. –Alan Thompson, Museum Registrar, Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park, Prairie Grove, Arkansas, 2008