People, Locations, Episodes

Rosemary Brown, Canadian Politician born

Rosemary Brown was born on his date in 1930. She was an African Canadian politician and activist.

Born and raised in Jamaica, young Brown came from a home of strong, educated, political women. She moved to Canada in 1950 to study at McGill University in Montreal. Canadian racism was the custom and no white Canadian girl wanted to be her roommate. Only West Indians and a few white friends would even speak to her. Landlords and employers rejected her for jobs and apartments, and this experience was repeated when she moved to Vancouver in 1955.

Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku, Politician born

*Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku was born on this date in 1930. He was a Congolese politician and military officer. Mobutu, a member of the Ngbandi ethnic group, was born in Lisala, Belgian Congo. Mobutu’s mother, Marie Madeleine Yemo, was a hotel maid who fled to Lisala to escape the harem of a local village chief. There she […]

Clarence Pendleton, Politician born

On this date in 1930, Clarence Pendleton, Jr., was born. He was an African American politician.

Born in Louisville, KY, Clarence McClane Pendleton was raised in Washington D.C., attended Dunbar High School. He received a B.S. from Howard University in 1954, and a masters degree in 1961 while coaching swimming, football, rowing, and baseball.

Douglas Wilder, Politician born

*Douglas Wilder was born on this date in 1931. He is an African American lawyer, professor and politician.

Bertie Bowman, Public Policy Administrator born.

*Bertie Bowman was born on this date in 1931. He was a Black federal congressional staffer. Herbert ‘Bertie’ Bowman was born to sharecroppers Mary Ragin and Robert Bowman in Summerton, South Carolina. His mother died, and his father soon remarried. Bowman had twelve siblings in a house with no plumbing. Career After meeting with U.S. […]

William Clay Sr. Politician born

*William Clay Sr. was born on this date in 1931. He is a retired Black politician.   William Lacy Clay Sr. was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Luella S. (Hyatt) and Irving Charles Clay. He graduated from Saint Louis University. Clay served in the United States Army from 1953 to 1955 and was a St. […]

Carrie Saxon Perry, Politician born

*Carrie Saxon Perry was born on this date in 1931.  She was a Black politician. Carrie Saxon was born in Hartford, CT, to David Saxon and Mabel Lee. Her grandmother primarily raised her after her father left the family when she was only six months old.  She graduated from Howard University with a degree in […]

Frente Negra Brasileira is Formed

*On this date, in 1931, Frente Negra Brasileira was formed.  Translated to English, the Black Brazilian Front was part of the Black Movement of Brazil and was Brazil’s first Black political party.   It was formed in 1931 and active until the November 10, 1937, suspension of political parties by the then president, Getúlio Vargas.  Arlindo Veiga dos Santos organized the party following the Revolution […]

Arthur Chaskalson, Anti-Apartheid Lawyer born

*Arthur Chaskalson was born on this date in 1931. He was a Jewish African lawyer, judge and anti-apartheid activist. Born in Johannesburg he came from a modest background, his father was a Lithuanian immigrant who died when he was 5 years old. Despite their tight finances, his mother sent him to two elite private schools, Pridwin and Hilton.

Andrew Young, Ambassador, and Activist born

*Andrew Young was born this date in 1932. He is an African American Civil Rights activist, former mayor of Atlanta, Georgia and American ambassador to the United Nations.

Pik Botha, South African Diplomat born.

*Pik Botha was born on this date in 1932. He was a white South African politician who served as the country’s foreign minister in the last years of the apartheid era. Roelof Frederik “Pik” Botha was born at Rustenburg in the Transvaal, to Roelof Frederik Botha and Maria Elizabeth Dreyer. At the age of four, […]

Yvonne Burke, Lawyer, and Politician born

Yvonne Brathwaite Burke was born on this date in 1932. She is an African American politician and lawyer.

Powell v. Alabama is Decided

*On this date in 1932, Powell v. Alabama, 287 U.S. 45, was decided. This was a landmark Supreme Court decision in which the Court reversed the convictions of nine young black men for allegedly raping two white women on a freight train near Scottsboro, Alabama. In March 1931, nine Black men—Charlie Weems, Ozie Powell, Clarence Norris, Olen […]

Unita Blackwell, Politician born

*Unita Blackwell was born, on this date, in 1933. She is a Black politician and activist.

Richard Hatcher, Politician, and Lawyer born

*Richard Hatcher was born on this date in 1933. He is an African American politician and law professor.