People, Locations, Episodes

Raymond Kemp, Football Player, and Coach born

*Ray Kemp was born on this date in 1907. He was an African American football player and coach.

Raymond Howard Kemp was from Cecil, Pa., a region of coal mines and farms where his parents had migrated from Virginia. He played fullback and the baritone saxophone at Cecil Township High School, and participated in the oratorical society. ”In that area at that time, it was assumed that blacks wouldn’t go to high school,” he recalled. ”I had brothers and sisters who were smarter than I was, but none of them went to school.”

Helen Claytor, YMCA Administrator born

Helen J. Claytor was born on this date in 1907. She was an African American educator, YWCA administrator, and activist.

Leon Washington Jr., Newspaper Publisher born

*Col. Leon H. Washington Jr. was born on this date in 1907. He was a Black newspaper publisher. Washington was born in Kansas City, Kansas, and attended Washburn University. He began his career in journalism by working for several newspapers. In 1933, he founded the Sentinel, an African American newspaper in Los Angeles. During this time, Washington […]

The United States of Africa, a story

*On this date in 1924, we celebrate the United States of Africa. This is a proposed Pan-African concept of a federation comprising some or all of the continent’s 54 sovereign states, as well as two disputed states. The idea of a multinational unifying African state has been compared to various medieval African empires, including the […]

Harry Stewart Jr., Military Pilot born.

*Harry Stewart Jr. was born on this date in 1924. He was a Black soldier and fighter pilot. Harry Thaddeus Stewart Jr. was born in Newport News, Virginia. When he was two years old, after living near Langley Field Air Force Base between Hampton and Newport News, Virginia, Stewart and his family moved to Queens […]

Ted Joans, ‘Spoken Word’ Artist born

Ted Joans was born on this date in 1928. He was an African American painter, trumpeter, and a jazz poet.

From Illinois, He studied trumpet, sang bebop, and earned a B.A. in Fine Arts from Indiana University before moving to Greenwich Village in New York City in 1951. He was one of the first Beat poets, and authored over 30 books of poetry, prose, and collage, including Black Pow-Wow, Beat Funky Jazz Poems, Afrodisia, Jazz is Our Religion, Double Trouble, Wow, and Teducation.

Otis Young, Actor, and Teacher born

Otis Young was born on this date in 1932. He was an African American actor, minister, and educator.

R.I., Young was one of 14 children. He joined the Marine Corps at 17 and after serving in the Korean War, enrolled in acting classes at New York University on the GI Bill. He studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Drama in New York City in 1960 and appeared in numerous theater productions there and in Los Angeles. Young was the first Black actor to co-star in a television Western series, “The Outcasts” in the late 1960s.

Bill Withers, Singer, Lyricist born

*Bill Withers was born on this date in 1938. He was a Black singer-songwriter and musician. William Harrison “Bill” Withers Jr., the youngest of six children, was born in the small coal-mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia. He was the son of Mattie (Galloway), a maid, and William Withers, a miner. He was born […]

The American Negro Exposition, a story

*On this date in 1940, The American Negro Exposition opened. Also known as the Black World’s Fair and the Diamond Jubilee Exposition, it was a world’s fair held in Chicago from July to September 1940 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of slavery in the United States following the American Civil War in […]

The Martin Luther King Jr. Center For Nonviolent Social Change Opens

*On this date in 1981, we affirm the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. Located in Atlanta, Georgia, the organization undertakes initiatives on both domestic and international levels. This is a nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization founded by Coretta Scott King.   She started the organization in the basement of the couple’s home in the year following her husband’s […]

The White Hispanic Community in America, an article

*The White Hispanic community is acknowledged on this date in 2000.  In the United States, individuals self-identify as white, of Hispanic descent, and/or speak Spanish natively. White Latino Americans are a broader category, including people of Brazilian and Argentine descent who predominantly speak Portuguese and Spanish.   Because white is a color, this self-identification appears […]

Don Imus Makes a Racist Slur On His Radio Show

On this date in 2007, White radio personality Don Imus used racist and sexist statement towards Black women on his show.

Imus made his remarks during his show to describe the Rutgers University women’s basketball team. The team includes eight black women, who had had lost the day before in the NCAA women’s championship game. Imus was speaking with producer Bernard McGuirk about the game when the exchange began on “Imus in the Morning,” which is broadcast to millions of people on more than 70 stations and MSNBC.

Baseball’s ‘Black Aces’ Pitchers is formed.

*On this date in 2007, we affirm the founding of the Black Aces. They are a group of Black professional baseball pitchers who have won at least 20 Major League Baseball games in a single season. The term comes from the title of a book written by Mudcat Grant, a former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher and one of the group […]

Green For All (Environment Organization) is Founded

*On this Earth Day, we celebrate Green For All.  Founded in September 2007, Green For All is an environmental justice organization aiming to build a green economy while lifting citizens out of poverty. It is a DC-based group that brings unions and environmentalists together to push for anti-poverty measures and a clean-energy economy. Green For All was co-founded by Van […]

The First Black Woman Arrives at the North Pole

*On this date in 2007, the first Black woman trekked to the North Pole. 75 year old Barbara Hillary, of Averne, N.Y., made the journey.