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This magazine was founded by a successful Black female physician with a deep commitment to giving back to her community. In a time of uncertainty and change, she believes it is more important than ever to showcase the beauty, intelligence, and creativity of the Black community. She and her dedicated team are committed to challenging and reshaping the negative stereotypes that persist in mainstream media.
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DID YOU KNOW ?
The 13th Amendment freed the slaves; however there were exceptions.
Before the Jim Crow Laws, there were Black Code Laws. Black Code laws and Jim Crow laws were both systems of legal discrimination against African Americans in the post-Civil War era, with Black Codes restricting freedom and Jim Crow laws enforcing racial segregation.
The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified on December 6,1865. It abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime after due conviction, and grants Congress the power to enforce it.
Section 1: Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Section 2: Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
BLACK CODE LAWS
Black Codes and Jim Crow laws were both systems of legal discrimination against African Americans in the post-Civil War era, with Black Codes restricting freedom and Jim Crow laws enforcing racial segregation.
Black codes in the United States were numerous laws enacted in the states of the former Confederacy after the American Civil War. Enacted in 1865, they were designed to replace the controls of slavery that had been removed by the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment and to assure continuance of white supremacy. Black Codes aimed to restrict the freedom of formerly enslaved people and maintain a system of labor control similar to slavery. They remained in place until the end of Reconstruction in 1877, followed by the enactment of Jim Crow laws.
Key Features:
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Limited the rights of formerly enslaved people.
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Restricted employment choices.
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Prevented property ownership.
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Included vagrancy laws that allowed for the arrest and forced labor of Black people.
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Required Black people to sign labor contracts, often at low wages, and punished those who violated them.
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Some states limited the type of property Black people could own and excluded them from certain businesses or skilled trades.
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Forbidden formerly enslaved peOple from carrying firearms or testifying in court, except in cases involving other Black people.
Black Codes were enforced by all-white police and state militia forces, often made up of Confederate veterans.
Jim Crow Laws
The Jim Crow era followed the Civil War and Reconstruction, when the South sought to reassert white supremacy after the abolition of slavery.
Jim Crow laws were state and local laws, enacted at the end of reconstruction in 1877, that enforced racial segregation and disenfranchisement of African Americans,
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These laws aimed to maintain racial hierarchy and limit the rights and opportunities of Black people.
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Segregated public facilities, including schools, parks, libraries, drinking fountains, restrooms, buses, trains, and restaurants.
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Established the "separate but equal" doctrine, which allowed for segregation as long as facilities were ostensibly equal, though they were often inferior for Black people.
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Made it difficult or impossible for Black citizens to vote, be elected to office, serve on juries, or participate as equals in the economic or social life of their area.
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Included literacy tests, grandfather clauses, and other discriminatory tactics to disenfranchise Black voters.
The Jim Crow era ended with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
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