African American History

Willard Motley wrote stories for children in the Chicago Defender as the first "Bud Billiken" while he was a teen, then went on to write hardboiled novels about Chicago's down-and-out. But he was criticized for writing about white instead of Black characters.

Discover some of Chicago's most architecturally extraordinary Black churches. "I think there's a conscious push to embrace the new," says architectural photographer and writer Lee Bey, "of throwing off the chains of the past."

On December 31, 1862, free Blacks and Black slaves gathered to await the enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation on New Year's Day. The Black community has continued to celebrate Watch Night or Freedom's Eve ever since.

With America again in the midst of a public reckoning on race and racism, WTTW's head of community engagement, Tim Russell, was asked by a friend for recommendations on what to read and watch about race in America. Here are his lists.

WTTW will broadcast and make available to stream a series of films and new specials focused on race in America following the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, and the ensuing protests that erupted across the country.