People, Locations, Episodes

Amílcar Cabral, Pan-African Activist born

*Amílcar Cabral was born on this date in 1924.  He was a Bissau-Guinean and Cape Verdean agricultural engineer and Pan-African.  Amílcar Lopes da Costa Cabral was born in Bafatá, Guinea-Bissau, to Cape Verdean parents, Juvenal Antònio Lopes da Costa Cabral and Iva Pinhel Évora, both from Santiago, Cape Verde. His father came from a wealthy […]

Danny Davis, Boxer, and Community Advocate born

Danny Davis was born on this date in 1929. He was an African American boxer, businessman, and community activist.

Daniel Webster Davis was from Minneapolis, MN, one of 11 children of Bessie and Clinton Davis. He was very close to his mother and graduated from Minneapolis North High School. As a young boy, he was active in the Phyllis Wheatley settlement house in North Minneapolis and took part in its many programs, one of which was boxing.

The Phyllis Wheatley House of Minneapolis Opens

On this date in 1924, the Phyllis Wheatley settlement house was founded and began operation in Minneapolis, MN.

At the start of the 20th century, community centers known as “settlement houses” were begun in many urban areas of the United States. Most of them were established in poor neighborhoods with a predominantly immigrant population, and designed to help “Americanize” the communities, but others, like Phyllis Wheatley, were founded to continuously deliver services primarily to African Americans.

Dennis Brutus, South African Activist born

*Dennis Brutus was born on this date in 1924.  He was a white-South African activist, poet, and publisher.  Born in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, Brutus was the son of South African teachers who moved back to their native country when he was still a boy.  He majored in English at Fort Hare University, attended on full […]

Robert Sobukwe, Pan-African Activist born

*Robert Sobukwe was born on this date in 1924. He was a Black African administrative activist, and Pan-Africanist. Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe was born in Graaff-Reinet in the Eastern Cape Province, the youngest child of Hubert and Angelina Sobukwe. His father worked as a general store clerk and part-time woodcutter; his Xhosa mother served as a […]

Rev. John Cross Jr., Activist born

*The Reverend John H. Cross, Jr. was born on this date in 1925. He was an African American minister and activist.

From Haynes, Arkansas he was the son of Margie Ann and John H. Cross Sr. He attended elementary school at Spring Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Haynes, Arkansas and Lincoln High School in Forrest City, Arkansas. As a teenager, Cross gave his trial sermon and was ordained at Springfield Missionary Baptist Church. After high school, in 1944, Cross entered the United States Army as an Assistant Regimental Chaplain.

Benjamin Hooks, Activist, Lawyer, and Minister born

*Benjamin Hooks was born on this date in 1925. He was an African American civil rights activist, lawyer and minister.

Robert F. Williams, Civil Rights Leader, and Author born

*Robert F. Williams was born on this date in 1925. He was a Black civil rights leader and author. Robert Franklin Williams was born in Monroe, North Carolina, to Emma Carter and John L. Williams, who worked as a railroad boiler washer. He had two sisters, Lorraine Garlington and Jessie Link, and two brothers, John […]

William F. Reid, Doctor, Politician, and Activist born

*William F. Reid was born on this date in 1925.  He is a Black physician, politician, and activist.   William Ferguson “Fergie” Reid was born in Richmond, VA., the son of dentist Leon Reid and his wife. He grew up in a house next door to the banker and activist Maggie L. Walker at 110 Leigh […]

Viola Liuzzo, Activist born

*Viola Liuzzo Liuzzo was born on this date in 1925. She was a White American civil rights activist.

Malcolm X, Activist, and Master Teacher born

This date marks the birthday of Malcolm X. in 1925. He was an African American activist leader who articulated concepts of race pride and Black Nationalism in the early 1960s.

Wilson O. Brooks, Teacher born

*This date in 1925 celebrates the birth of Wilson O. Brooks, a Black Canadian officer, teacher, and civil rights advocate. Born in Windsor, Ontario, he was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Brooks. He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in April of 1943 and trained at No. 5 Bombing and Gunnery School […]

The International Labor Defense (ILD) is formed

*On this date, in 1925, the International Labor Defense (ILD) was formed. IDL was a diverse legal advocacy organization supporting American labor. Economic disputes have been legally contested since America’s 19th-century organized labor movement began. Sometimes, an employer or government has gone to court to terminate strike actions or to seek prosecution for alleged malefactors for physical […]

Medgar Evers, Mississippi Activist born

Medgar Evers was born on this date in 1925 in Decatur, Mississippi. He was an African American civil rights leader whose assassination for his work as field secretary for the NAACP in Mississippi galvanized the Civil Rights Movement.

The West African Students’ Union is Formed

*The West African Students’ Union (WASU) was founded on this date in 1925. WASU was an association of students from various West African countries studying in the United Kingdom. WASU was founded in London, England, by twenty-one law students led by Ladipo Solanke and Herbert Bankole-Bright. The previous year, Solanke founded the Nigerian Progress Union […]