People, Locations, Episodes

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, […]

James Nabrit III, Lawyer born

*James Nabrit III was born on this date in 1932. He was an African American civil rights attorney and legal activist.

James Madison Nabrit III was born in Houston, Texas, the son of James Nabrit, Jr., a prominent civil rights attorney, law professor and later President of Howard University. He grew up in Washington, D.C., where he attended segregated public schools through part of high school.

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.

The National Industrial Recovery Act is Passed

On this date in 1933, The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) was passed into law.  It was a US labor and consumer law passed by the US Congress to authorize the President to regulate the industry for fair wages and prices that would stimulate economic recovery. It also established a national public works program known […]

Richard Hatcher, Politician, and Lawyer born

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

James Fowler, State Trooper, and Murderer born

*James Fowler was born on this date in 1933. He was a white-American, murderer, drug dealer, and state trooper.  James Bonard Fowler was born into a farming family in Geneva County, Alabama. He attended local schools, which were racially segregated, and played football in high school. After graduating, he served in the US Navy from […]

Clifford Alexander, Lawyer born

*Clifford Alexander was born on this date in 1933.  He is a Black lawyer, businessman, and public servant.   Clifford Leopold Alexander Jr. was born in New York City.  His parents were Clifford Leopold Alexander and his wife. He attended the private Ethical Culture and Fieldston schools. Alexander graduated from Harvard College in 1955 and Yale Law School in 1958. He […]

John W. Joseph, Politician and Activist born

*John W. Joseph was born on this date in 1933. He was a Black politician and community activist. John Wilfred Joseph was the son of Reverend Adam Joseph and Mrs. Julia Lee Jones Joseph. He was born and raised on his father’s farm in Plaisance, Louisiana, during racial segregation.  The state’s dual education system relegated […]

Samora Machel, Soldier and Politician born.

*Samora Machel was born on this date in 1933. He was a Black African politician and revolutionary. Samora Moisés Machel was born in Gaza Province, Mozambique, to a family of farmers. His grandfather had been an active collaborator of Gungunhana. Under Portuguese rule, his father, like most Black Mozambicans, was classified as “indígena” (native). He […]

America’s 20th Century ‘Black Cabinet,’ a story

*On this date in 1933, the ‘Black Cabinet’ is celebrated. This was an unofficial group of Black advisors to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Beginning in 1933, Secretary of the Interior (and former Chicago NAACP president) Harold Ickes led an effort to open high-level civil servant positions to Black professionals. The first group of these professionals, […]