Black Californians Paved the Way for the State’s Most Progressive Ideals

But their contributions are not taught in history books

In news that will likely not surprise you, a lot of Black history has been suppressed in an attempt to erase the contributions made by Black folk in America — like the wealth accumulated by Black Californians during the Gold Rush era — as well as to ignore many atrocities (read up on the Red Summer).

“The history of California is filled with Blackness. Melanin is woven into the state’s fabric, from the Black founding families of Los Angeles to the buffalo soldiers who patrolled the state’s frontier,” Nikki Brueggeman writes for The Bold Italic. “Long before the Black Lives Matter movement or the Black Panther Party, Black Californians led the way in fighting for equality and pushing the state to become progressive.”

Read more about the hidden history of California’s earliest Black residents below.

The Long-Erased History of California’s Earliest Black Residents