*London Breed was born on this date in 1974. She is a Black politician. Born in San Francisco, London Nicole Breed was raised by her grandmother in Plaza East public housing in the Western Addition neighborhood of San Francisco. Her family of five lived on $900 per month. Her younger sister died of a drug […]
learn more*The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) was founded on this date in 1975. IFP is a right-wing political party in South Africa. The dawn of apartheid in the 1940s marked significant changes for all Black South Africans. In 1953, the South African Government introduced the homelands. During the 1960s, the Government’s objective was to form a tribal authority and […]
learn moreOn this date in 1975, Mozambique gained its independence from Portugal. The exodus of most whites, which formed the technical and professional class, weakened the nation’s economy.
The first multi-party elections in Mozambique were held in October 1994. Chissano was elected president with 53.3 percent of the vote and his Frelimo Party received a majority in the assembly with 129 out of 250 seats. Renamo Party leader Afonso Dhlakama received 33.7 percent of the vote and the party garnered 112 seats in the assembly. Some 90 percent of eligible voters participated in the election.
learn more*On this date in 1975, Angola gained independence from Portugal. This repaired the invasion of the 1884 Berlin Conference, the high point of white European competition for territory in Africa, a process commonly known as the Scramble for Africa. Under colonial law, Black Angolans were forbidden from forming political parties or labor unions. The first nationalist […]
learn more*On this date in 1975. Suriname gained complete independence from the Netherlands. During World War II, on November 23, 1941, under an agreement with the Netherlands government-in-exile, the United States sent 2,000 soldiers to Suriname to protect the bauxite mines from supporting the Allies’ war effort. In 1942, the Dutch government-in-exile reviewed the relations between […]
learn more*On this date in 1977, TransAfrica was formed. This advocacy organization in Washington, D.C., seeks to influence the United States’ foreign policy concerning African and Caribbean countries and all African diaspora groups. The TransAfrica Forum was founded on July 1, 1977, following its conception a year earlier at a Black Leadership Conference convened by the Congressional Black Caucus in September 1976. A committee consisting of Randall […]
learn more*William Hurd was born on this date in 1977. He is a former Black CIA officer, author, and politician. William Ballard Hurdis, the son of Robert and Mary Alice Hurd. He is a 1995 John Marshall High School graduate in the San Antonio suburb of Leon Valley. Hurd attended Texas A&M University and served as […]
learn more*On this date in 1978, the Martinican Independence Movement, or M.I.M., was formed. This is a left-wing political party in the overseas department of Martinique, West Indies. Alfred Marie-Jeanne founded it to secure “the decolonization and independence of Martinique.” Its secretary is the deputy and president of the Regional Council of Martinique. It has one […]
learn moreOn this date in 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed the Hawkins-Humphrey Full Employment Bill.
Co-authored and sponsored by black Congressman Augustus F. Hawkins, with Minnesota Senator Hubert H. Humphrey, a leading champion of civil rights, this act was also called the “Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act.”
learn more*On this date in 1978, Dominica gained Independence from Britain. Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The island was settled by the Arawak indigenous people arriving from South America in the 5th century. The Kalinago displaced the Arawak by the 15th century. It was later colonized by Europeans, […]
learn more*Paula Marcela Moreno Zapata was born on this date in 1978. She is an Afro Colombian engineer, professor, and public policy advocate. Born in Bogata, Paula Marcela Moreno Zapatais, the daughter of Armando Moreno, a retired civil servant of the Bogotá Aqueducts, and María Zényde Zapata, a lawyer. In 1998, Moreno graduated with an Italian Language and Culture degree from Istituto Italiano di […]
learn more*On this date in 1979, Andrew Young (then) United States ambassador to the United Nations resigned.
His visible empathy with the Third World made him controversial and his resignation came after it was revealed that he had met with a representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
learn more*On this date in 1979, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, an island country in the Caribbean, gained independence from Britain. It is in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea, where the latter meets the Atlantic […]
learn more*Kemi Badenoch was born on this date in 1980. She is a Black British politician. Born Olukemi Olufunto Adegoke in Wimbledon, London, her mother traveled from Nigeria to the U.K. to give birth before the British Nationality Act 1981 abolished automatic birthright citizenship for those born in the United Kingdom. She is one of […]
learn moreIndependence for Zimbabwe came on this date in 1980 from Britain. Prime Minister Robert Mugabe consolidated his power in 1982 and dismissed Joshua Nkomo from his government.
Mugabe’s party won a landslide victory in 1985, the first general election since independence. In late 1987 the constitution was amended to replace the position of prime minister with that of executive president, which combines the posts of head of state and head of government. At that time ZANU-PF and Nkomo’s Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) agreed to merge under the name of ZANU-PF.
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