Celebrating Black History Month

This week, in honor of Black History Month, we learn how Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X influenced each other, explore the unsung history of HBCUs , and look back at the legacy of African-American inventors .

Our secret thoughts on race

Just six words: When Michele Norris began a project asking Americans for their very succinct thoughts on race, she had no idea that more than a half million people would take part—or that her project would morph into a just-published book. For Nat Geo, she shared her insights from this new approach—and a few six-word responses , including: “He's my dad, not the gardener,” “I am not an exotic creature,” and “Native Americans, America's invisible invisible invisible.”

A new look, together, at 2 civil rights giants

They were long thought as rivals, but were America’s two leading civil rights advocates ultimately on the same page? The new National Geographic series ‘Genius: MLK/X ’ shows, as executive producer Gina Prince-Bythewood puts it, that people don’t to be on Team Martin or Team Malcolm anymore. ”We need heroes,” says playwright and screenwriter Jeff Stetson, “and they were heroes.” This is how the two men met for the first—and only—time .

The unappreciated legacy of African-American inventors

History-making black scientists and inventors should be honored as much for the lives they lived as for the things they invented.

The unsung history of HBCUs and their alumni

Their list of achievements is endless, yet historically Black colleges and universities have been chronically misunderstood and underfinanced since their founding in the 1800s.

Have you heard of these stories?

• This magician escaped slavery by mailing himself to freedom
• The first Black U.S. senator lived an extraordinary life
• This quilt—and the woman who created it—inspired generations of artisans
• Rediscovering the history of Tennessee's forgotten music empire