People, Locations, Episodes

The National Conference of Black Mayors is Founded

The National Council of Black Mayors (NCBM) was founded on this date in 1972.

Headquartered in Georgia, NCBM’s mission was to enhance the executive skills of its members to more effectively govern their cities. After the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965 were enacted, the number of African Americans elected to public office increased substantially, with the most dramatic gains coming in the South at the mayoral level. In 1972, 13 recently elected black mayors met in Fayette, MS., to discuss developing programs to benefit their respective municipalities.

Ben Jealous, Administrator, and Activist born

*Benjamin Jealous was born January 18, 1973. He is an African American Administrator, Journalist and Civil rights Activist.

America’s elects its first Black Woman Mayor

On this date in 1973, Leila Smith Foley became the first African American woman to be elected Major of a U.S. city, Taft, Oklahoma.

Reference:
The Associated Press
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To Become a Legislator

The First Black Man is Elected Mayor of Los Angeles

On this date in 1973, Tom Bradley became the first African American mayor of Los Angeles, CA.

He defeated incumbent Sam Yorty, and thus also became the first Black mayor of major city, which was predominantly White.

The Bahamas Gains Independence From Britain

*On this date in 1973, the Bahamas gained independence from the United Kingdom. The Bahamas became a British crown colony in 1718. After the American Revolutionary War, the Crown resettled thousands of American Loyalists to the Bahamas; they took their slaves with them and established plantations on land grants. African slaves and their descendants constituted most of the population from this period […]

Clementa Pinckney, South Carolina Politician born

*Clementa Pinckney was born on this date in 1973.  He was an African American minister and politician. Clementa Carlos Pinckney was born in Beaufort, South Carolina. His mother, Theopia Stevenson Aikens was an early childhood development educator, and his father, John Pinckney, was an auto mechanic. Pinckney had six brothers and sisters and was named in honor of […]

Guinea-Bissau Gains Independence From Portugal

*On this date in 1973, Guinea-Bissau gained Independence from Portugal. Self-governing occurred 89 years after the 1884 invasion from the Berlin Conference, the high point of white-European competition for territory in Africa, a process commonly known as the Scramble for Africa.  Recognition became universal following April 24, 1974, a socialist-inspired military coup in Portugal overthrew Lisbon’s Estado […]

Alvin Bragg, Lawyer and Prosecutor born

*Alvin Bragg was born on this date in 1973. He is a Black politician and lawyer. Alvin Leonard Bragg Jr. is from Harlem, New York. He graduated from Trinity School and Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts in government in 1995. Bragg earned his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor […]

The Symbionese Liberation Army, a story

*The founding of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) is affirmed on this date in 1973.  They were an American left-wing terrorist organization active between 1973 and 1975.  Also called the United Federated Forces, it considered itself a vanguard army. The group committed bank robberies, two murders, and other acts of violence.  They were responsible for the assassination of Oakland school superintendent […]

Stacey Abrams, Politician, Lawyer, and Activist born

*Stacey Abrams was born on this date in 1973. She is a Black politician, lawyer, voting rights activist, and author.  Stacey Yvonne Abrams is the second of six siblings; she was born to Robert and Carolyn Abrams in Madison, Wisconsin, and raised in Gulfport, Mississippi. The family moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where her parents pursued graduate degrees at Emory University and later became Methodist ministers. Her siblings include […]

Milliken v. Bradley is Decided

*On this date in 1974, Milliken v. Bradley was decided. This was a significant United States Supreme Court case dealing with the planned desegregation busing of public school students across district lines among 53 school districts in metropolitan Detroit. It concerned the plans to integrate public schools in the United States following the Brown v. Board […]

London Breed, Politician born

*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 […]

The Inkatha Freedom Party is formed.

*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 […]

Angola Gains Its Independence From Portugal

*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 […]

Suriname Gains Independence From The Netherlands

*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 […]