People, Locations, Episodes

Denzel Washington, Actor, Director, and Minister born

Denzel Washington was born on this date in 1954. He is an African American film, television, and stage actor and occasional director.

Denzel Hayes Washington, Jr., was born in Mount Vernon, New York. He has an older sister, Lorice, and a younger brother. His father, Virginia-born Reverend Denzel Washington, was an ordained Pentecostal minister, who worked for the Water Department and at a local department store. His mother, Lennis, a beauty parlor owner, was born in Georgia and raised in Harlem.

Pope Leo XIV (Robert Francis Prevost) Catholic Church Leader born.

*Pope Leo XIV was born on this date in 1955. He is a Creole head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State. He was born Robert Francis Prevost at Mercy Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. Known as “Bob” or “Rob” in childhood and to friends as an adult, Prevost was raised in Dolton, […]

The ‘Manifesto on Racial Beliefs’ is Published

On this date in 1957, a “Manifesto on Racial Beliefs” was published by The Atlanta Constitution.

Dr. Allison Williams, Senior Pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church, and 79 other white Atlanta pastors, signed the Manifesto, which was also published in The Atlanta Journal. This document clearly stated their opposition to the “hatred, defiance, and violence” which followed the Supreme Court’s granting of “full privileges of first-class citizenship” to Black Americans through the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision.

Dennis Oglesby, Minister and Activist born

*Dennis Oglesby was born on this date in 1960. He was a Black minister and community activist.  Born in Chicago to insurance executive Dennis Michael Oglesby Sr. and community organizer Sylvia Oglesby, Dennis Jr. grew up in California with his father after his parents divorced. In 1983, he graduated from Rust College, an HBCU in […]

The Hebrew Israelites Of Jerusalem, a story

On this date we celebrate the return of African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem to Israel in 1969.

Elijah Muhammad Dies

*On this date in 1975, Elijah Muhammad died. He was an African American Black Muslim, who was leader of the Nation of Islam from 1934 until his death.

The Mormon Church Allows Blacks Into Priesthood

On this date in 1978, the Mormon Church announced that Blacks would be allowed to hold the priesthood.

Shais Rishon, Rabbi and Activist born.

*Shais Rishon was born on this date in 1982. He is a Black Orthodox rabbi, activist, and writer. Shais Rishon, known by the pen name MaNishtana, was born in Brooklyn, New York, to an Ashkenazi Jewish family linked with the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. He says his mother’s ancestors have practiced Judaism since the 1780s. His father, Asher Rishon, […]

Rev. Henry Lyons Pleads Guilty to Grand Theft

*On this date in 1999, Rev. Henry Lyons pled guilty to tax evasion, embezzlement and grand theft.

These charges were committed while he served as president of the National Baptist Convention, USA Inc., the largest Black denomination in America. Rev. Henry Lyons was a fraud and a thief.

The sordid tale began in 1997 when Lyons’ wife, Deborah, set fire to a home she discovered her husband had purchased with Bernice Edwards, a companion whom Lyon said was his mistress. Rev. Lyons was released from prison in December, 2003.

Ayecha, a Community for Non-White Jews

The Ayecha Resource Organization is celebrated on this date. They were a global resource group for Jews of Color. Ayecha supported, strengthened, and advocated for Jews of Color and multi-racial families in the U.S.

The African Cemetery (Key West, Florida) is Re-Established

*On this date in 2002, a Consecration Ceremony for the Key West African cemetery took place. This occasion marked another chapter of closure in the history of Africans in America.

Key West was never a slave trading port, but because of its unusual geography it was often affected by the Transatlantic Slave Trade. A remote outpost, poised along the maritime highway of the Gulf Stream current and very close to the plantations of Cuba, the small island saw a number of slave ships sail through, wreck in, or be forcibly brought to her waters.

The African Burial Ground (New York City) is Re-Established

On this date in 2003, an African Burial Ground in New York City was re-established and re-consecrated.

The African Burial Ground is a 6-acre cemetery that was used between the late 1600s and 1796, and originally contained between 10,000 and 20,000 burials. The discovery of the African Burial Ground occurred in June 1991. Earlier that month, construction workers began to dig the foundation for a new $300 million federal government building in lower Manhattan. It all stopped when they came upon the burial ground, where they found wooden coffins and human remains.

American Black History and Islam, a story

*This date celebrates the beginning of this years Ramadan. Because of this, the Registry looks briefly at Islam and African-America.

African American and Jewish American Relations in America, an article

*On this date we look at the history of Black and Jewish relations in America. Since the time of slavery, blacks and Jews have in a range of ways identified with the each others community experience.