Clara B. Williams college professors did not allow her inside the classroom because she was Black. But that didn’t stop her. She took notes from the hallway–standing up! She eventually graduated at the age of 51 and lived to 108 years old and saw her 3 sons become doctors.

100 years ago, thirteen black men put together their savings and founded Safe Bus Company, making it the largest black owned bus company at that time. It was formed in Winston-Salem to serve the black neighborhoods due to segregation and operated till 1972. Thirteen Black men pooled their life savings to purchase $100,000 in stock, forming Safe Bus Co., Inc. on May 26, 1926. The company quickly grew into the largest African American–owned bus company in the nation. Safe Bus expanded rapidly and was once described as the largest Black-owned transportation company in the world. By 1955, the company grossed $825,000. At its peak, it carried approximately 15,000 passengers per day, earned $18,000 weekly, and employed 75 people. Early fares began at five cents and increased as the company expanded. The fleet grew from 35 to 42 buses, serving roughly 20 percent of the city. Black bus drivers earned between $1.60 and $2.50 per hour—wages that exceeded those of many schoolteachers at the time. By 1968, Safe Bus provided transportation across the entire city. However, following integration, the company experienced a sharp decline in ridership. Changing social attitudes and increased competition led to significant financial losses. In 1972, stockholders voted to sell Safe Bus to the city. The Winston-Salem Transit Authority then assumed responsibility for public transportation, marking the end of one of the most successful Black-owned transit companies in American history.

“You can kill a revolutionary, but you can’t kill the revolution.” — Fred Hampton

Civil Rights activist, Gloria Richardson with the greatest “Boy Bye” as she removes the rifle of a National Guardsman from her way during a 1963 Civil Rights Protest.

This women played major roles in Black liberation, community organizing, and political education during the 1960s and 1970s. Angela Davis, Kathleen Cleaver, Denise Velez, Afeni Shakur, Assata Shakur, and Elaine Brown were central figures in movements focused on racial justice, political self-determination, and community survival. Their work included organizing grassroots programs, developing political education, addressing police violence, advocating for prisoners’ rights, and building mutual aid initiatives. Many of these efforts were foundational to broader civil rights and Black Power movements, even though women’s leadership was often overlooked or minimized at the time. Several of these women faced surveillance, arrests, trials, incarceration, or exile. Others navigated internal challenges within political organizations while continuing to push for structural change. Their contributions extended beyond protests and speeches into day-to-day organizing that sustained communities under pressure. This image documents an important part of American history and highlights the role of women whose leadership helped shape political movements that continue to influence conversations about justice, equality, and civil rights today.

Carlota Lucumi: The Yoruba woman who led one of Cuba's Revolts in 1843. Carlota Lucumí, also known as La Negra Carlota, was an African-born enslaved woman in Cuba of Yoruba (Lucumí) origin who became one of the most important female figures in the history of resistance to slavery in the Americas. She lived and labored on the Triunvirato sugar plantation in Matanzas, a region that by the mid-19th century had become one of the most brutal centers of plantation slavery in Cuba. Enslaved Africans there endured extreme violence, forced labor, family separation, and constant surveillance. Yet Matanzas was also a place where African cultures, languages, and networks of solidarity survived — and where resistance repeatedly emerged. On November 5, 1843, Carlota helped lead a coordinated slave rebellion at Triunvirato. Armed with tools, machetes, and whatever weapons they could seize, the rebels attacked the plantation infrastructure and fought back against overseers. The uprising did not remain isolated; it spread to neighboring plantations and formed part of a wider wave of revolts across Matanzas. These rebellions were later followed by a harsh colonial crackdown remembered as La Escalera — “The Year of the Lash” (1843–1844). Spanish authorities responded with mass arrests, torture, executions, and public punishments intended to crush both rebellion and any possibility of African unity. Carlota herself was captured and killed during the repression, but her role in the revolt ensured that her name survived in oral histories and later historical records. Carlota’s story is significant not only because she participated in resistance, but because she represents the often overlooked role of African women in organizing and leading rebellions in the Americas. Enslaved women were not only victims of slavery — they were strategists, messengers, fighters, and leaders who helped sustain networks of resistance across plantations and regions. Over time, Carlota came to symbolize Black resistance in Cuban history. In the 20th century, her legacy was revived in national memory and revolutionary narratives, most notably when Cuba named its 1975 military mission in Angola Operation Carlota in her honor.