The Baton Foundation

Committed to serving the emotional, cultural and intellectual needs of Black boys through Saturday seminars, engaging programs, and research travel.

[SchomburgCenter @SchomburgCenter]

If you are a student in grades 6–12 who would like to explore Black history and culture, consider applying to our Junior Scholars Program. It is a free Saturday academic program. Priority deadline: 6/15. Final deadline: 6/29. #SchomburgCenter
https://t.co/zP1Ssvg7h2

[SchomburgCenter @SchomburgCenter]

Sat, 6/13 | 11 AM: Save the date and join us for our Schomburg Centennial Festival! This free, all-day gathering will feature author talks, panels, a cosplay showcase, marketplace, and a block party. #SchomburgCenter #Schomburg100 #Harlem
https://t.co/yCA1b4WjzP

[Equal Justice Initiative @eji_org]

On this day in 1961, a mob of 50 white men in Anniston, Alabama, attacked the Freedom Riders with pipes, chains, and bats. The Riders had taken a Greyhound bus to Anniston during a desegregation campaign.
https://t.co/O3gwk68JVw

[NY Public Library @nypl]

Patience and Fortitude were unveiled in May, 1911, just a few days before the Library was dedicated.

Discover how the lions came to be, got their names, and have served as the guardians and symbols of the Library and the city for over a century.

Learn more: https://t.co/8psuiYwM8o

[Jazz Is Dead @jazzisdeadco]

The great Aretha Franklin recording Amazing Grace live at New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts, Los Angeles, January 1972.

[Ana Lucia Araujo, PhD @araujohistorian]

🧵1/4 On May 13, 1888, #BRAZIL was the last country to abolish slavery in the Americas. The largest number of enslaved Africans that crossed the Atlantic Ocean, nearly 6 MILLION were carried to Brazil. About 5 MILLION landed alive on Brazilian shores #slaveryarchive

[AFRICAN & BLACK HISTORY @AfricanArchives]

Jean-Baptiste Belley from Senegal was the first Black man to serve in the French Parliament, a veteran of the American Revolutionary War and fought for the freedom of people of Haiti.

Belley lived one of the most incredible lives of the 18th century, transitioning from an enslaved child to a powerful legislator in the French government. Born in Senegal on the island of Goree around 1746, he was kidnapped at the tender age of two and forced onto a ship bound for Saint-Domingue, the colony we now know as Haiti. In a remarkable turn of events, Belley managed to learn a trade and save enough money to buy his own freedom by the time he was a teenager.
His journey did not stop at personal liberty. At just 16 years old, he joined the military and eventually traveled to America to fight in the Revolutionary War. He was part of a specialized unit of Black and multiracial soldiers who fought against the British at the Siege of Savannah in 1779. This experience in the pursuit of liberty across the Atlantic likely fueled his later political ambitions. When he returned to Saint-Domingue, he became a successful planter and a dedicated voice for his community during the early years of the French Revolution.
In 1793, Belley was elected as a representative to the National Convention in Paris. He made history as the first Black deputy to take a seat in the French parliament. His presence was a living testament to the push for human rights, and he played a crucial role in the landmark 1794 decree that officially abolished slavery across all French colonies. Even as a high-ranking official and a full citizen, he had to constantly defend his dignity against the deep-seated prejudices of his peers.
Unfortunately, the political tide turned when Napoleon Bonaparte rose to power and sought to reinstate the system of slavery. Belley remained loyal to his principles and returned to Saint-Domingue, but he was eventually arrested by Napoleon’s forces. He was sent back to France as a prisoner and spent his final days at the notorious Belle-Ile-en-Mer. His legacy remains a powerful symbol of the global struggle for Black representation and the unbreakable spirit of those who fought for freedom on both sides of the ocean.

[SAVE A SEAT FOR ME (Simon & Schuster, 2026) @NewBlackMan]

Harvard officials enslaved more than 1,600 people, new research reveals

So far, they have confirmed that at least 259 Harvard officials enslaved people — and they are still digging through records.
https://t.co/l519df1joM

[SchomburgCenter @SchomburgCenter]

Sat, 5/16 | 11 AM | #SchomburgCenter: Teens in our Junior Scholars program will present the multimedia showcase "Welcome to Currents of Resistance: Propaganda, Power & Purpose" through music, media, radio journalism, and spoken more. #Schomburg100 https://t.co/kQRVeBa0CQ

[SchomburgCenter @SchomburgCenter]

Tomorrow, 5/5 | 6:30 PM | #SchomburgCenter: Join us for a screening of Losing Ground (1982) preceded by Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich’s short film Cleopatra at the Mall (2024). A talkback follows. #Schomburg100 #Harlem #BlackCinema #Blackfilms
https://t.co/Tt5zWlQez2

[The Baton Foundation @batonfoundation]

Unparalleled, still. ❤️🥲🙏🏾

[Melodies & Masterpieces @SVG__Collection]

Remembering the great Sarah Vaughan, who passed away on this day in 1990.

[The Baton Foundation @batonfoundation]

❤️🥲

[#BMH365 🎶🎤 @BlackMusicHstry]

Remembering Edwin Starr (Wednesday, January 21, 1942 — Wednesday, April 2, 2003)

Born Charles Edwin Hatcher in Nashville, Tennessee, Edwin Starr was raised in Cleveland, where he began singing as a teenager and formed his first group, the Future Tones. After military service in Europe, he returned determined to make music his life, sang with Bill Doggett, and then moved into Detroit’s recording world, where his voice, forceful, gritty, and instantly recognizable, began cutting through the crowded soul field.

His early solo rise came at Ric Tic with records such as “Agent Double-O-Soul,” “Stop Her on Sight (S.O.S.),” and “Headline News,” but his profile expanded further once Motown absorbed Ric Tic in 1968. “Twenty-Five Miles” became a major breakthrough, and then “War” made him immortal. Written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong, “War” was first tied to @thetemptations, but Starr’s version gave it a harder edge and a public urgency that pushed it all the way to No. 1 in the United States and into the Top 10 in Britain.

Yet, Starr did not remain trapped inside one moment. After Motown, he continued recording, scored the soundtrack for “Hell Up in Harlem,” and later found renewed chart success in disco with “Contact” and “H.A.P.P.Y. Radio.” His later career also mattered in Britain, where he became deeply respected on the northern soul scene and remained a working, visible performer for decades.

Starr died on Wednesday, April 2, 2003, at his home near Nottingham, England, at age 61, of a heart attack, but even at the end of his life, he was still an active and valued performer, not merely a singer remembered for an old hit, but an artist who had kept earning his audience.

Edwin Starr’s legacy rests in more than protest music, though “War” will always stand firmly at the center of it.

[The Baton Foundation @batonfoundation]

❤️🙏🏾

[Melodies & Masterpieces @SVG__Collection]

Happy birthday to the legendary Marvin Gaye, born on this day in 1939!

[Equal Justice Initiative @eji_org]

On this day in 1911, President William Howard Taft expelled Black soldiers from San Antonio because local officials claimed they threatened “law and order” by protesting Jim Crow laws.
https://t.co/YdSWbEqhGY

[Left of Black @LeftOfBlack]

Historian Martha S. Jones discusses her book 'Birthright Citizens: A History of Race and Rights in Antebellum America'
https://t.co/gvjeva7wqB | @LeftOfBlack

[The Baton Foundation @batonfoundation]

🥲

[BlackHistoryStudies @BlkHistStudies]

On the day in 1968, Dr Martin Luther King Jr de­livers his powerful and prophetic “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech in Memphis, Tenn. Many felt he used the speech to predict his own death. He was assassinated the very next day—at 6:01 p.m., 4 April 1968. ❤️💚🖤

[SchomburgCenter @SchomburgCenter]

Sat, 3/28 at 3:45 PM, #SchomburgCenter: Join us in as we view & engage with materials from our collection that highlight visual representations of the Caribbean and its diaspora, from the 19th century to present day. Limited Seating. #Schomburg100 https://t.co/eXTMfN1jBA

[Melodies & Masterpieces @SVG__Collection]

Before drum machines and loops, there were masters like Max Roach, redefining what jazz percussion could be

[Ana Lucia Araujo, PhD @araujohistorian]

“An African philosophy”: beautiful essay by Sanya Osha edited by @samhaselby on Lansana Keita, who taught at Howard, revisiting Hountondji and Mudimbe. No paywall. https://t.co/QHs9FlUfxS

[AUC Woodruff Library @auc_woodruff]

Want to make your own cyanotype print?

Learn the historic process behind the iconic blue in architectural blueprints and create your own artwork.

April 17 | 1–5 PM | Archives Research Center

Register:
https://t.co/BxDYB5gPYW

@cau | @morehouse | @spelmancollege