Philadelphia Printworks

"Yellow Power to Yellow People"– Huey P. Newton Trial, Oakland, California, l969. Source: Roz Payne Archives.

"In the middle of catastrophe, in the middle of disaster, people – particulary people who have already suffered – see an opportunity to evolve to another stage of humanity." — Grace Lee Boggs

"You have to continue to believe in yourself, know your value and continue to work on honing your skills. I was rejected by everyone but here I sit. So you have to stay in the game, you can't just fall apart. Hopefully, those challenges will make you stronger, it did for me." — Debbie Allen

"American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful, and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it." — James Baldwin ​ ​Photo: May Mercier, James Baldwin, Memphis Slim, Hazel Scott supporting the March on Washington. — Paris, France (1963)

This is Vanessa Garrison. Vanessa is one of the founders of GirlTrek, the largest public health, and self-care movement for Black women. When I say that they're passionate about getting black women outdoors and moving I mean it. When you talk to Vanessa and Morgan (the other founder) you'll find that their passion is palpable. The ways that they show up for and love black women are undeniable. If you haven't already heard about the mobilizing and organizing power of @girltrek please check them out. They're doing some amazing work.

Matthew Henson was one of the Golden Age of Exploration's few African-American explorers, and he was the first person, black or white, to reach the North Pole in 1909 with a team of six including Robert Peary and Inuits Ooqueah, Ootah, Egingwah, and Seegloo. ​ Henson was born in 1866, to a family of freeborn sharecroppers in Nanjemoy, Maryland. It was one year after emancipation and the end of the Civil War. An African-American of the first generation to roam the world after the abolition of slavery, Henson led a singular life of exploration and discovery. ​ ​But the racially divisive climate of time would not give an African-American man the same standing in the public eye for the accomplishment of such a monumental feat of human achievement. Instead Peary was the recognized discoverer of the Pole while Henson was relegated to the role of trusty companion. Despite Henson’s indispensable contributions to their efforts for almost 20 years, he received very little acknowledgment. Upon his return from the Pole Henson took a job as a clerk with the federal customs house in New York City, on the recommendation of Theodore Roosevelt. He would spend the next 30 years leading a quiet life in relative seclusion. But in 1937 his contributions to the discovery of the North Pole would finally be recognized. The Explorers Club of New York made him an honorary member. A few years later in 1946, Henson was awarded a medal, identical to the one given to Peary, by U.S. Navy. And in 1954 he was invited to the White House by President Dwight Eisenhower to receive a special commendation for his early work as an explorer on the behalf of the United States of America. ​ Source: National Geographic | ​Photo: Henson and Inuit Ahngmalokto raise an American flag on Cape Morris in May 1900.

"I am grateful for all my victories, but I am especially grateful for my losses because they only made me work harder." — Muhammad Ali ​ ​Photo: After an early morning run, boxer Muhammad Ali resting at his training camp in Deer Lake, Pennsylvania. Photo © Peter Angelo Simon.

Our Trailblazer design with @blkmktvintage is a nod to the long tradition of African Americans who loved the land, who hiked and hunted and camped. Trailblazers like the Buffalo Soldiers and Harriet Tubman inspire us to carry on their legacy. 🏕️🍂✊🏾

Buffalo soldiers were among our national parks' first rangers. Beginning in 1899, hundreds of Buffalo Soldiers kept watch over Yosemite, Sequoia, Glacier, Yellowstone, and General Grant (Kings Canyon) National Parks. They served as park rangers before the National Park Service even coined the term and introduced the ranger hats that are now so familiar to park visitors. The Buffalo Soldiers' legacy can be seen throughout these national parks. They built many trails and roads in Sequoia, including the first paths to the top of Mount Whitney, through the Giant Forest, and to the Moro Rock. In 1904, they introduced the first museum to a national park with Yosemite's arboretum. They also fought forest fires, drew maps, and prevented illegal grazing, logging, and poaching. The most famous of these park rangers was Colonel Charles Young, who became the first black superintendent of a national park in 1903 as the caretaker of the Sequoia and General Grant (Kings Canyon) parks. In 2013, President Obama declared Young's home in Wilberforce, Ohio, as a national monument and it will soon be open to visitors. Before they became park rangers, some of these Buffalo Soldiers embarked on a 1,000-mile bicycle ride across America's national parks to determine for the military whether bikes could be a viable alternative source of transportation to the horse. ​ ​Source: @hitrecord | Photo: Buffalo Soldiers on their bikes at Minerva Terrace, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone. Photo taken by Frank Jay Haynes, 1896.

Having the right clothing is key to staying warm this season. Headwear and layers. This Trailblazer design is part of our “Follow the Drinking Gourd” collection which was reported to be a song spread by Peg Leg Joe, an operative of the Underground Railroad, giving directions for slaves to escape. #vintageorganizing #freedom #undergroundrailroad #freedomsummer #reclaimblk #harriettubman

The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early to mid-1800s, used by enslaved African-Americans to escape into free states. Various other routes led to Canada and Mexico, where slavery had been abolished. An early escape route running south toward Florida existed from the late 17th century until Florida became a United States territory in 1821 (ending the safe haven for escaped slaves was the main reason Florida changed nationality). However, the network now generally known as the Underground Railroad was formed in the late 1700s. It ran north and grew steadily until the Civil War began. Research suggests that by 1850, 100,000 slaves had escaped via the "Railroad". British North America (present-day Canada) was a desirable destination, as its long border gave many points of access. It was also further from slave catchers and beyond the reach of the United States' Fugitive Slave Acts. More than 30,000 people were said to have escaped there via the Underground Railroad during its 20-year peak period. #freedomsummer #reclaimblk

It’s the weekend! We hope you can get outside and enjoy some of the last bits of sun before the winter chill sets in! 🍁🍂 #freedomsummer #reclaimblk

Rosa Parks is most widely known for her role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. But, her organizing work didn’t start or end there. Nationally recognized as the “mother of the modern-day civil rights movement”, Mrs. Parks was born Rosa McCauley on February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama. Rosa became an active member of the Montgomery NAACP where she served as youth director and later as the secretary. She also participated in the organization’s voter registration drives and led a national campaign against sexual assaults on black women. Parks became an advocate of desegregation and took pride in being a member of the national organization that won the Brown vs. Board of Education court case. Most famously, her refusal to surrender her seat to a white passenger on a bus in 1955 triggered the Montgomery Bus Boycott and a network of organized demonstrations in solidarity. In 1987, she co-founded The Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development’s “Pathways to Freedom” program, which traced the underground railroad into the civil rights movement and beyond. Youth met with national leaders and participated in educational/historical research throughout the world, journeying primarily by bus as “Freedom Riders” did in the 1960′s. This design is our way of honoring Mrs. Parks vast legacy and role in the civil rights movement. By creating a fictitious institution, we reimagine the ways in which our heroes are honored and celebrated. #freedomsummer #rosaparks #civilrights #reclaimblk

Colorized photo of Louis Armstrong playing for his wife, Lucille, in Cairo, Egypt 1961.

"the softest parts are black" — "A few years back while I was living in Madison, Wisconsin, I read Long Divison by Kiese Laymon. One of the main characters in the book says something that stuck to my bones: "I looked at her face and, more than anything, I just wanted her to hug me. Sounds crazy, but after getting your legs stomped to dust by white dudes in sheets, you kinda want someone black to touch you in a way that’s soft." Collectively as a people it is so important to hold each other in a way that is soft. I hope these shirts will stand as an affirmation and confirmation of our softness." — Jay Katelansky, Artist. • Typography designed in collaboration with Brandi Goldsborough. ​• ​Available now in the Market section of our site.

The District of Columbia delegation of the National Association of Colored Women joins delegates from across the country to picket the White House in response to the murders of four African Americans in Monroe, Georgia by a white mob. July 30, 1946. ​ ​The National Association of Colored Women, formed in 1896, brought together more than 100 black women's clubs. Leaders in the black women's club movement include Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, Mary Church Terrell, and Anna Julia Cooper. ​ ​ 📷: D.C. Public Library historic image collection

Demonstrators hold signs and join hands during the March on Washington. August 28, 1963.