People, Locations, Episodes

Barbara Johns, Student Activist born

*Barbara Johns Powell was born on this date in 1935. She was a Black librarian and civil rights activist.   Barbara Rose Johns was born in New York City, New York 1935. Her family had roots in Prince Edward County, Virginia, where they returned to live. Her mother worked in Washington D.C. for the U.S. […]

The International African Friends of Abyssinia is Formed

*On this date in 1935, the International African Friends of Abyssinia (IAFA), also known as the International African Friends of Ethiopia, was formed in London, England, to protest Italian aggression against Abyssinia. Its membership comprised many important Pan-African figures, several of whom later formed the International African Service Bureau. C. L. R. James founded the […]

Vernon Jordan Jr., Lawyer, and Activist born

*Vernon E. Jordan Jr. was born on this date in 1935. He is an African American lawyer and civil rights leader.

From Atlanta, Georgia his father was a mail clerk in the U. S. Army and his mother ran a local catering service. Jordan was educated in the Atlanta public schools and graduated from DePauw University in 1957. He attended the Howard University Law School where he received the J.D. in 1960. After graduation returning home to practice law he became involved in a significant civil rights case of that era.

Eldridge Cleaver, Activist born

Eldridge Cleaver was born on this date in 1935. He was an African American Black Power activist and administrator.

From Wabbaseka, Arkansas, his family moved first to Phoenix and then to Los Angeles, where as a teen-ager Cleaver began running into trouble with the law. After arrests for theft and selling marijuana, eventually in 1957 he was convicted of assault with intent to murder and sent to California’s San Quentin and Folsom prisons. While there, he wrote a powerful set of essays outlining his views on racial issues and revolutionary violence.

Mary Hamilton, Union Activist born

*Mary Hamilton was born on this date in 1935. She was a Black activist and union worker. Hamilton, who grew up in Iowa and Denver, Colorado, wanted to be a nun but, after discovering socialism, became active in the American Civil Rights Movement in the South and joined the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). She […]

Mahmoud El-Kati, Educator, and Activist born

*Mahmoud El-Kati was born on this date in 1935. He is an African American educator, activist, lecturer, writer, and commentator on the African American experience.

From Savannah, Georgia, he is the son of Rufus Williams and Razzie Garvan Williams. El-Kati is one of 3 siblings and graduated from Booker T. Washington H. S. in Miami, Florida. El-Kati also is a graduate of Wilberforce University where he majored in contemporary African American history.

The National Council of Negro Women is Formed

On this date in 1935, the National Council of Negro Women began.

Founded by Mary McLeod Bethune and started as way to unite women and secure justice, NCNW has grown into a multi-faceted, non-profit organization that works at the national, state, local, and international levels. It pursues goals to “leave no one behind” and improve quality of life for women, children, and families. NCNW consists of 38 affiliated national organizations, 250 community-based sections chartered in 42 states, 20 college-based sections, and 60,000 individual members.

Bobby Hickman, Community Activist born

*Bobby Hickman was born on this date in 1936. He was an African American educator and community activist.

Thelma White Camack, Educator, and Activist born

*On this date in 1936, Thelma Joyce White was born. She was an African American civil rights activist.

Thelma was the daughter of Ray and Johnnie Mae (Dickins). She was born in Marlin, TX and moved to El Paso with her family as a small child. She attended the city’s segregated school for Blacks and in 1954 graduated as class valedictorian from Douglass High School.

The National Negro Congress is formed.

*The National Negro Congress (NNC) held its first convention on this date in 1936. The NNC was an American organization aiming to fight for Black labor liberation. Historically, many black workers were segregated and racially discriminated in the labor force. To combat racism within their respective jobs, they had to establish a union. However, most […]

Jim Brown, Football Player, Actor, Activist

*Jim Brown was born on this date in 1936. He was an African American football player, actor and civil rights advocate. From Saint Simons, Ga. He was the son of Swinton and Theresa Brown.

Marion Barry, Activist, and Politician born

*Marion Barry was born on this date in 1936. He was a Black activist and politician.   Marion Shepilov Barry Jr. was born in rural Itta Bena, Mississippi, the third child of Mattie Cummings and Marion Barry. His father died when he was four years old, and a year later, his mother moved the family to Memphis, Tennessee, where her employment prospects were […]

Clyde Bellecourt, Activist and Black Ally born

*Clyde Bellecourt was born on this date in 1936. He was an Ojibwe Native American Civil Rights organizer. Clyde Howard Bellecourt was the seventh of 12 children born to Charles and Angeline. Bellecourt was on the White Earth Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota. Among his older siblings was his brother Vernon Bellecourt. White Earth was […]

Jayne Cortez, Poet, and Musician born

This date in 1936 marks the birth of Jayne Cortez. She is an African American poet, musician, activist, and entrepreneur.

Betty Shabazz, Activist and Administrator born

This date marks the birth of Betty Shabazz in 1936. She was an African American administrator and the wife of Malcolm X.