Heather Andrea Williams is a professor of history at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She is also author of Self-Taught: African American Education in Slavery and Freedom.
For decades, slavery tore apart African-American families. Children were sold off from their mothers, and husbands were taken from their wives. Many desperately tried to keep track of each other, even running away to find loved ones. After the Civil War and emancipation, these efforts intensified. Freed slaves posted ads in newspapers and wrote letters — seeking any clue to a family member's whereabouts.
Katy manages programming operations and coordinates volunteers and interns. She also assists in grant writing and other administrative tasks. She joined NIPR in September 2011.
Stephen R. Covey, the motivational speaker best known for the book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, died Monday in Idaho three months after a serious bicycle accident in Utah. He was 79.
Dr. Lisa Sterman holds up a Truvada pill at her office in San Francisco in May. Even before the Food and Drug Administration's approval, Sterman had prescribed Truvada for about a dozen patients at high risk for developing AIDS.
The Food and Drug Administration has given the first OK for a drug to prevent HIV infection.
The daily pill Truvada, made by Gilead Sciences, combines two medicines that inhibit the reproduction of HIV. It's been a mainstay in the treatment of HIV/AIDS for years, and as of today is an approved option for reducing the risk of HIV infection for people at high risk.
The U.S. Naval Forces Central Command said its Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain had opened fire on a speeding vessel off the coast of Dubai today.
In a press release, the Fifth Fleet said a small motor vessel disregarded warnings and approached the USNS Rappahannock. A security team about the Navy vessel "used a series of non-lethal, preplanned responses to warn the vessel before resorting to lethal force."
The team aboard the vessel fired using a .50-caliber machine gun.
Mark Zuckerberg, right, and Andrew Houston, founder and chief executive of Dropbox, wait in a parked car for the traffic to clear out at the Sun Valley Lodge during the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference last week.
There are shark encounters you may laugh at — such as the one we posted about last week. The reactions of a young woman and man when a bull shark steals a fish from the end of her line are wonderful.
Then there are the stories that are no laughing matter — such as those coming in recent days from western Australia.
Paul McCartney, left, and Bruce Springsteen during Saturday's show in Hyde Park — before the plug was pulled. Frame grab from video posted by "BenR753" on YouTube.
Instead of staying on until his retirement in October, it was reported this morning that Florida A&M University President James Ammons' resignation will be effective immediately.
Republican and Democratic strategists tell NPR that most of the estimated $4 billion to be spent by the campaigns, political action committees and others on the 2012 presidential race will make no difference in the outcome.
