*Afro Barbadians are celebrated on November 30, 1519. Often called Black Barbadians, they are of entirely or primarily African descent. Most of the enslaved Africans brought to Barbados were from the Bight of Biafra (62,000 Africans), the Gold Coast (59,000 Africans), and the Bight of Benin (45,000 Africans). Other African slaves came from Central Africa […]
learn more*The Barbados Slave Code was enacted on this date in 1661. Officially titled as An Act for the better ordering and governing of Negroes, it was a law passed by the Parliament of Barbados to provide a legal basis for slavery in the English colony of Barbados. Throughout British North America, slavery evolved in practice […]
learn more*Sarah J. Tompkins Garnet was born on this date in 1831. She was a Black educator and suffragist. Sarah J. Smith was born on the Shinnecock Reservation of Long Island. She was the daughter of Sylvanus and Anne Smith, both of African, Native American, and European heritage. She was the oldest of 11 children; her […]
learn more*The Women’s Loyal Union, or WLU, was formed on this date in 1892 in New York. It started to advocate for women’s rights and, most importantly, the racial injustices that came with being a Black Woman during Reconstruction. WLU began with Maritcha Remond Lyons partnering with educator and activist Victoria Earle Matthews to host and […]
learn more*The Bussa Rebellion began on April 14, 1816. Lasting three days, it was the largest slave revolt in Barbadian history. The rebellion, which took its name from the African slave Bussa, who led it, was the first of three mass slave rebellions in the British West Indies. It was eventually defeated by the colonial militia […]
learn more*The Contraband Relief Association was formed on this date in 1862. Washington, D.C., in 1862, became a beacon of liberty for enslaved individuals in bordering slave states like Maryland and Virginia. Many of these individuals ran away and crossed into the District to pursue their liberation. That year, Congress passed the Compensated Emancipation Act, ending […]
learn more*G. Caliman Coxe was born on May 7,1907. He was a Black artist and educator. Gloucester Caliman Coxe was a native of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and moved to Louisville, KY. in 1924. In his 40s, he entered the University of Louisville to study art. He was the first African American to receive a Hite art scholarship […]
learn more*Elvera “Baby” Sanchez Davis was born on September 1, 1905. She was an Afro Cuban American dancer. Elvera Sanchez was born in New York City to Afro Cuban immigrants Luisa Valentina and Marco Sánchez, a cigar maker. She began her career as a chorus-line dancer at the Lafayette Theater in Harlem in 1921. She became […]
learn more*Will Mastin was born on this date in 1878. He was a Black dancer and singer. According to the 1880 Federal Census of Enumeration and the California Death Index, Mastin was born in Madison, Alabama, to a single mother named Sally Mastin. As a vaudeville and television act, Mastin led the Will Mastin Trio. The […]
learn more*Jerry Pinkney was born on this date in 1939. He was a Black artist, illustrator, writer, and teacher of children’s literature. Jerry Pinkney was born in Philadelphia, PA. His parents were Williemae and James Pinkney; he was the middle child of five siblings. Pinkney struggled in school due to dyslexia but excelled at drawing, even […]
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