*Lee Archer Jr. was born on this date in 1919. He was a Black fighter Ace in the 332nd Fighter Group. Born in New York City, Lee Andrew Archer, Jr. grew up in Harlem and later attended New York University. After graduation, he joined the United States Army, hoping to become a pilot. At that […]
learn more*Clarence Lester was born on this date in 1923. He was a Black fighter pilot who served during World War II. Clarence D. “Lucky” Lester was born in Richmond, Virginia. Raised in Chicago, Illinois, Lester attended West Virginia State College, where he was a star football player and a fraternity brother of Kappa Alpha Psi, […]
learn more*Wendell O. Pruitt was born on this date in 1920. He was a Black military pilot. Wendell Oliver Pruitt grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, as the youngest of ten children to Elijah and Melanie Pruitt. He attended Sumner High School and Lincoln University, becoming an Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity member. Already a licensed pilot, […]
learn more*Arthur J. Wilson was born on this date in 1923. He was a Black Certified Public Accountant (CPA). From Omaha, NB., Arthur Jewell Wilson was the son of Maynard Wilson, who served as secretary to the mayor of Omaha, Nebraska, for nearly 20 years. He graduated from the University of Illinois and is a member […]
learn more*The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was established on this date in 1996. The TRC was a court-like restorative justice body assembled in South Africa after the end of apartheid. The TRC was set up in Cape Town under terms of the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act, No. 34 of 1995. The hearings […]
learn more*Jim Dent was born on this date in 1939. He was a Black professional golfer. James Lacey Dent was born in the golf mecca of Augusta, Georgia, home of the Masters Tournament, though as a Black youth, he would’ve only been allowed on the Augusta National course as a caddie at the time. Dent caddied […]
learn more*Josie Woods was born on this date in 1912. She was a Black British dancer, choreographer, and activist. Woods was born Josephine Lucy Wood in Canning Town, London, in 1912. Her father, Charles Wood, was from Dominica, and her mother, Emily, had Gypsy ancestry. As a teenager, Woods worked as a seamstress before entering vaudeville. […]
learn more*The birth of Jonathan Strong is celebrated on this date in c. 1747. He was a Black slave and plaintiff in one of the earliest legal cases relating to slavery in Britain and the British abolitionist movement. It is unknown where Strong was born, but he was brought to Britain from the British colony of Barbados […]
learn more*On this date in 2017, the African and Caribbean War Memorial was unveiled. The United Kingdom’s national memorial to Afro Caribbean service personnel who fought in the First and Second World Wars is located in Brixton, London. While the Imperial War Museum holds records for almost 70,000 memorials to the First and Second World Wars […]
learn more*Windrush Square was dedicated on this date in 1998. Often referred to as Brixton Oval, it is an open public space in the center of Brixton, South London. It honors Britain’s Windrush generation and occupies an area in front of the Brixton Tate Library. After changing its name to Tate Gardens, it has its current […]
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