For those unfamiliar, the “paper-bag test” was a tactic used by certain African-American social organizations, fraternities and even churches to keep dark-skinned people out. The saying is that if you ...

One of my favorite movie scenes of all time shows Bessie Smith, played by Queen Latifah, administering her own reverse paper bag test to backup singers desperate to join her tour. Where the blues ...

The "paper bag test" was a once common discriminatory practice within the African-American community in which a brown paper bag was held up to someone's face to determine if they could get into ...

Some stories hide between the lines of our history, passed quietly from one generation to the next. Throughout much of the twentieth century, especially in the American South and within certain Black ...