Ethiopia has a long history of hosting refugees. Over the years, it has provided a safe place for Eritrean asylum seekers fleeing state violence and the lack of political, religious and social freedom. Despite the fact that Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia are offered incentives to remain in the country – like education and local integration programmes – the majority prefer to take the dangerous journey to Europe instead. In doing so, they risk falling prey to human traffickers, abuse, detention and death. Amanda Poole and Jennifer Riggan explain why these refugees would rather risk their lives than remain in Ethiopia’s refugee camps.

Newly freed in a country with a legacy of hostility toward their kind, Black people in 19th-century America faced a barrage of attacks in the white press on their collective self-image. However, with photography burgeoning, many Black Americans turned to portraiture and photography to present themselves in a more dignified light. Samantha Hill, a fellow at the William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan, tells their story with illustrative examples from the library’s David V. Tinder Collection of Michigan Photography.