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Kayla Stewart

For the first time since leaving office, former commander-in-chief Barack Obama is headed to Kenya and South Africa to visit the Obama ancestral home, convene 200 young leaders across the continent, and deliver a speech to mark the anniversary of Nelson Mandela's 100th birthday.

While his schedule is jam-packed, Obama managed to make a reading list for his followers before leaving.

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This month, two basketball referees made sports history.

Danielle Scott and Angelica Suffren became the first two black women to referee an NBA game, making for an intersectional feminist win.

Marc J. Spears, a senior writer for ESPN's The Undefeated, noticed the women during the July 3 summer league game between the Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Lakers.

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Freedom fighter, human rights advocate, prisoner, and all-around remarkable human Nelson Mandela was South Africa's first black president and first post-apartheid leader.

Not only did Mandela fiercely advocate on behalf of South Africans of color, he gave up decades of his life to do it. His visionary actions against South Africa's racist policies led to a 27-year imprisonment on Robben Island.

Photo by Stephen Jaffe/AFP/Getty Images.

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Independence Day is an important day in the United States.

In 1776, the Continental Congress declared the 13 American colonies were no longer a part of the British Empire and would be recognized as a new nation — thus asserting independence from British rule. This action led to the creation of the U.S. Constitution over a decade later.

But for years, the rights our independent nation promised only applied to certain people.

Black Americans, women, immigrants, people with disabilities, and many other communities didn't get to experience the same freedoms. Instead, to varying degrees, they experienced persecution.

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