Colored Conventions

Happy 195th birthday to the Colored Conventions movement!

The first convention debated whether this country would ever be a place for Black people to enjoy their full civil rights and citizenship. As those fights continue today, it is powerful reading omeka.coloredconventions.org/items/show/70

Sept. 20, 1830: The First Meeting of the Colored Conventions Movement Forty African Americans, elected by communities in nine states, met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1830 to organize for improving the lives of Black people in North America. That week, they founded ...

#tdih 1830

Forty African Americans, elected by communities in nine states, met in Philadelphia.

They founded the National Colored Conventions movement.

Read ⬇️, follow @ccp-org.bsky.social, and visit digital collection with essays here. 🧵
www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/fi...

Finally got around to getting THiCC lab principles (thicc-lab.org/principles/ ) and the Liberatory Tech Project principles up! (liberatorytech.org/principles/)

Sites still a work in progress with more life needed. But we outchea, more comin

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper is 200 today! @c19americanists.bsky.social @digblk.bsky.social @ccp-org.bsky.social @blkgrlpoet.bsky.social @profgabrielle.bsky.social @npr.org She’s just as fabulous, relevant, and fiery now as she was in C19! For a sample, see commonplace.online/article/vol-...

I could not love this more. @errinhaines.bsky.social @ccp-org.bsky.social

Save the Date Douglass Day Feb 13, 2026 Featuring the Colored Conventions Project DouglassDay.org Image of 19th century people looking at us and debating in a hall.

Did you hear?

Douglass Day 2026 is on the way!
Friday, February 13, 2026
Sign up today: DouglassDay.org

Oh, and this year we are featuring a massive *new* trove of rediscovered documents from our friends at the @ccp-org.bsky.social! 🎂

Frances E. W. Harper 200: Looking Back, Moving Forward Headshots of all featured panelists. Presented by the Center for Black Digital Research/#DigBlk and the Africana Research Center.

We're just one month away! Here is a sneak peek at the 5️⃣ featured panels. More information at: coloredconventions.org/harper-200-s...
#Harper200 @ccp-org.bsky.social

The (not so) secret Philly history of ‘The Gilded Age’ LisaGay Hamilton plays Philadelphia poet, author, and suffragist Frances Ellen Watkins Harper in 'The Gilded Age.'

“If you are talking about Philadelphia in this era & the work of women, you just have to mention Harper, you just have to.”—Dr. Sherita L. Johnson interview w/ the Philly @inquirer.com discussing Frances E. W. Harper's portrayal in “The Gilded Age." #Harper200
www.inquirer.com/entertainmen...

Coming to Eisenhower Auditorium at PSU on September 19!

The Artistry and Activism of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper brings Harper’s legacy to life for a new generation—reclaiming history, honoring resilience, and celebrating artistic activism.

TICKETS ON SALE NOW: cpa.psu.edu/events/franc...

July 20, 1967: Newark Black Power Conference Begins More than 1,000 delegates representing 286 organizations and institutions from 126 cities in 26 states, Bermuda, and Nigeria gathered at the National Conference on Black Power in Newark, New Jersey.

#tdih 1967 National Conference on Black Power began in Newark in tradition of antebellum Black convention movement (@ccp-org.bsky.social) & early Pan-African congresses.

More than 1,000 delegates representing 286 organizations and institutions from 126 cities in 26 states, Bermuda, and Nigeria.

Frances E. W. Harper 200 – Looking Back, Moving Forward - Colored Conventions Project

SAVE THE DATE: We are excited to co-host #Harper200 Sept. 19-21. We invite you to attend in person! The weekend festivities include a dance performance, scholarly panels, poetry readings, receptions, and more. Most events are free. Learn more & register at:
coloredconventions.org/harper-200-s...

In collaboration with the Africana Research Center, we are hosting this 3-day commemoration of Frances E. W. Harper: Looking Back, Moving Forward, Sept. 19-21. We hope to see you in person!
#Harper200

Former Librarian of Congress, fired by Trump, vows to improve public information in new Mellon role Carla Hayden, the former Librarian of Congress fired by President Donald Trump, has joined the the country's foremost philanthropic supporter of the arts.

Carla Hayden, the ex-Librarian of Congress who was fired by Trump, has a new role as senior fellow with the Mellon Foundation

When I offer workshops on crafting values-driven and strategic careers, I help academics create a “H€>l No/Sacred Yes Practice” based on questions like: “What energizes me? What enervates/depletes me?” Knowing that up front allows you to say NO to whole categories, and redirect people too.

P. Gabrielle Foreman standing at a podium and speaking into a microphone

On the Amicus podcast, we discussed Justice Brown Jackson’s dissent in Medina v. South Carolina, which cited the Colored Conventions to define “rights.” We were honored to host @ccp-org.bsky.social's P. Gabrielle Foreman at our March symposium on this history. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...

Organized, robust, discussions of democracy were taking place as post Civil War amendments were added to the Constitution. We love hearing how Colored Conventions counter the majority’s take on originalism + its limits by
@jamellebouie.net @dahlialithwick.bsky.social and @sifill.bsky.social

What, to the American Incarcerated Person, Is Your Fourth of July? In the spirit of Frederick Douglass’ historic speech, 20 currently and formerly incarcerated Americans explain what Independence Day means to them.

In 1852, Frederick Douglass asked: “What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July?”

Inspired by Douglass’ famous question, 20 people ensnared in the sprawling US criminal legal system answered this variation: “What, to the currently or formerly incarcerated American, is your Fourth of July?”

Euphemistic language is a tool often used to sanitize grave injustices. When referring to the WWII incarceration of people of Japanese ancestry, it is important to use the correct terminology: concentration camps, not relocation centers; forced removal, not evacuation; citizens, not non aliens.

IU has the oldest Folklore Department in the country--no longer a major. Cognitive Science? gone! PhD programs also sacrificed. Full list here: www.in.gov/che/files/In...

Indiana public colleges cut almost 20% of degrees Public Indiana colleges and universities have eliminated 19 percent of their degree programs to meet requirements added to the state’s budget, according to the Commission for Higher Education.

So, here it is. Thanks to a new state law that was NEVER DEBATED, Indiana University has committed itself to abolishing majors in African-American/African Diaspora Studies: American Studies; Art History; French; Italian; Religious Studies etc. DOZENS of majors. www.ipm.org/news-section...

"Something ineffable happens when you write down a thought: You think something you did not know you could or would think and it leads you to another thought… the process of writing itself leads to previously unthought thoughts [and] crystallizes half-formulated or unformulated thoughts"
- Lynn Hunt

We will be featuring your piece in our training for researchers this year btw.

Second, Jackson is really good in how she thinks about and uses Reconstruction sources, and it is great to see these Black history sources being used for something other than gun rights claims. One can see a through line here from her SFFA dissent. 2/

I love that Justice Jackson is citing the Colored convention project!
@ccp-org.bsky.social

The Colored Conventions Movement | P. Gabrielle Foreman | University of North Carolina Press This volume of essays is the first to focus on the Colored Conventions movement, the nineteenth century's longest campaign for Black civil rights. Well befor...

Such an important part! Also, the book is great too. uncpress.org/book/9781469...

Not just funded, but supported. The NEH DH office did so much more than offer monetary grants, as important as that was; they created connections, offered expertise, advocated for and celebrated the projects they funded 🙏🏾.

Thank you Eileen - we benefit yet again from your generosity! Almost missed this news entirely, but for your alert!

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson cites the Colored Conventions Project Digital Records. That's the ongoing digital humanities project that rediscovers relatively underrepresented political events in American history. @ccp-org.bsky.social

We appreciate you!!

🙏🏾. We’re honored to be part of collective effort to elevate the Colored Convention movement’s goals and history and to witness efforts to make its objectives a lived reality.