BBC Radio Podcasts from Witness History: Black history
The Battle of Versailles: Catwalk clash of American and French fashion
In 1973 a fashion show was held in France which the media dubbed the Battle of Versailles
How Rosa Parks took a stand against racism
Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her bus seat helped end segregation in the United States
Lucha Reyes: Peruvian music star
She overcame poverty, health problems and racism to become one of Peru’s greatest singers
How a young mother was saved from death by stoning
In 2003, human rights lawyer Hauwa Ibrahim defended Amina Lawal from death by stoning
Queen of the 'fro
In 1986, Charlotte Mensah went to work in the UK's first luxury Afro-Caribbean hair salon
The funeral of Nelson Mandela
In 2013, South Africa's first black president was buried in his ancestral village
The Bristol bus boycott
How a protest by black activists in 1963 led to the UK's first anti-racism laws
The Empire Windrush arrives
On 22 June 1948, the Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury in England
Ming Smith makes history at MoMA
MoMA bought photos from an African-American woman for the first time in 1979.
Octavia E. Butler: Visionary black sci-fi writer
She received numerous Hugos and Nebulas - top writing prizes for sci-fi writing
Una Marson and the BBC Caribbean Service
The BBC's first black producer, Una Marson, and the beginnings of the Caribbean Service
The Little Black Book survival guide
In 1985, a guide was written for young black men in the US who were stopped by the police
The beginnings of Notting Hill Carnival
In 1959, Claudia Jones held a Caribbean party, planting the seeds for the famous carnival
The Harder They Come
Jimmy Cliff spoke about the film that brought reggae music to the world in 1972
The funk and soul club that changed Manchester
Manchester’s first racially inclusive nightclub
Civil Rights activist Ida B Wells
How a pioneering African-American journalist campaigned against lynching in the US
The death of Trayvon Martin
The black Florida teenager killed by a Neighbourhood Watch volunteer while buying sweets.
Black Jesus
In 1967 an African American church minister began preaching that Jesus was black.
'I just wanted to be white'
Growing up as a black child in post-war Germany
Nasa's pioneering black women
The mathematicians who worked behind the scenes on the American space programme
Viv Anderson - first black England footballer
In November 1978, the defender became the first black Englishman to play for his country.
The Battle of Lewisham
How anti-racists stopped a far-right march in South London in 1977.
When Nelson Mandela went to Detroit
Shortly after his release from prison the South African freedom fighter toured the USA
The unlawful death of Christopher Alder
The black former soldier choked to death on the floor of a British police station in 1998
Three Strikes Law
One man's experience of the controversial US law that saw thousands locked up for life
Rodney King and the LA riots
People rioted in Los Angeles after police who had assaulted a black man were acquitted
Black basketball pioneers - Texas Western
How an all-black college team overturned racist assumptions about basketball in the USA
The 16th Street church bombing
Four young black girls were killed in a racist attack on a church in Alabama in 1963
Brown v the Board of Education
A landmark case about racial segregation in the USA.
Ann Lowe - African American fashion designer
Ann Lowe designed Jackie Kennedy's wedding dress but for years few people knew her name
The Miami riots
After four white policemen were acquitted of killing a black man - Miami rioted in 1980
The last survivor of the transatlantic slave trade
A woman who died in the US in 1940 was captured and enslaved in West Africa as a child
London's first black policeman
Norwell Roberts endured years of racist abuse within the Metropolitan police
The first self-made female millionaire
Madam C. J. Walker was born to former slaves and created a black beauty business.
The story of George Stinney Jr
How a 14-year-old boy became the youngest person executed in the USA in the 20th century
Desmond's: A sitcom that changed Britain
Desmond's was the most successful black sitcom in British TV history
Black GIs during World War Two
How soldiers who had been relegated to support roles were asked to volunteer for combat
The killing of Amadou Diallo
When New York police shot a young immigrant 41 times, thousands took to the streets
Britain's World War Two 'Brown Babies'
The stigma of growing up as a mixed race child in post-war Britain
The Bristol bus boycott
How British black activists fought for employment rights in the 1960s
The Notting Hill riots
Inter-racial violence broke out in west London in the summer of 1958
The first black woman MP in Britain
In 1987 Diane Abbott became the first black woman to be elected to the British Parliament
Learie Constantine - fighting racism in the UK
The great West Indian cricketer who fought against racism in the UK
Free breakfast with the Black Panthers
The revolutionary Black Panther Party provided free breakfasts for local schoolchildren.
Nina Simone moves to Liberia
The great African-American jazz singer moved to West Africa in 1974.
The murder of black teenager Emmett Till
In 1955, Emmett Till, a black teenager from Chicago, was brutally murdered in Mississippi
Britain's first female black headteacher
Yvonne Conolly was appointed head of Ringcross Primary school in North London in 1969
Photographing Martin Luther King and His Family
Moneta Sleet, the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize for journalism.
The "Godfather of Gospel Music"
Thomas A Dorsey is credited with developing Gospel music into a global phenomenon.
The First Kwanzaa
The African-American winter holiday was invented in Los Angeles in 1966.
The Unsung Hero of Heart Surgery
The African-American lab technician whose surgery helped save millions of babies..
The Immortal Cells of Henrietta Lacks
Cells taken from an African American woman in 1951 revolutionised medical science
Roots - The TV Series
The epic mini-series about slavery in the USA hit TV screens in January 1977
Bob Marley Survives Assassination Attempt
In December 1976 gunmen tried to kill the legendary reggae singer at his home in Jamaica.
A Black GI in China
How an African American soldier captured in the Korean war, decided to settle in China
Voting Against the War on Terror
Only one Congresswoman voted against the 'war on terror'. Her name was Barbara Lee.
The Dance Theatre of Harlem
In August 1969, the first classical ballet company to focus on black dancers was formed
Race Riots in Liverpool
In 1981 police used CS gas for the first time in mainland Britain to control race riots
Black in the USSR
Robert Robinson, a black American engineer, spent 43 years in the USSR against his will.
Marcus Garvey
In 1916 Marcus Garvey arrived in the US urging black people to unite in a new nation.
Haile Selassie In Jamaica
On 21 April 1966 Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia arrived in Jamaica
The Back to Africa Movement
In the late 1800s thousands of African-Americans tried to emigrate to escape violence
The Death of Walter Rodney
The Guyanese historian and political activist Walter Rodney was killed by a bomb in 1980
The Scottsboro Boys: A Miscarriage of Justice in the US
In 1931, nine black teenagers were convicted of raping two white girls in Alabama.
Josephine Baker - Black American Superstar
In 1925 a young black American dancer became an overnight sensation in Paris
The Children's Crusade
Thousands of black American children protest against segregation in Birmingham, Alabama
Mixed race marriage victory in US
How Mildred and Richard Loving fought to get mixed-race marriages legalised across the US
Greensboro Lunch Counter Sit-ins
A simple non-violent action to protest against racial segregation in restaurants and shops
The Freedom Riders
The story of an extraordinary act of courage by the civil rights leader Martin Luther King
The Mississippi Burning Case
Three civil rights workers are killed in Mississippi while taking part in Freedom Summer
Petula Clark touches Harry Belafonte's arm
In 1968, when Petula Clark touched Harry Belafonte's arm, it made US TV history
John Howard Griffin: Black Like Me
Over 50 years ago a white journalist tried living as a black man in America's Deep South.
Beverly Johnson - Vogue's First Black Covergirl
It wasn't until 1974 that American Vogue put a black model on its cover for the first time
Black Golfer at the US Masters
How Lee Elder broke one of the last colour barriers in US sport in 1975
Jamaica Slave Rebellion
The rebellion was brutally crushed, but it had a significant impact
The Voyage of the Empire Windrush
The story of the coming of the first West Indian migrants to Britain, back in 1948
The Attica Prison Riot
In September 1971 prisoners in a high security jail in the US rose up against their guards
I Have a Dream
Martin Luther King made his historic plea for racial equality at the March on Washington
Muhammad Ali and the Draft
How the boxing champion's refusal to go to Vietnam made him a hero to 1960s radicals
James Brown Concert at the Boston Garden
Held 24 hours after the death of Martin Luther King, the gig went ahead peacefully
The Tuskegee Syphilis Study
The US government's experiment on a group of African-American men without their knowledge