People, Locations, Episodes

Olive Morris, Activist, and Feminist born

*Olive Morris was born on this date in 1952.  She was a Black Jamaican, British-based community feminist, Black nationalist, and squatters’ rights activist.   Olive Elaine Morris was born in 1952 in Harewood, St Catherine, Jamaica, to Doris Lowena (née Moseley) and Vincent Nathaniel Morris.  As part of the Windrush Generation, the family emigrated to […]

Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, Environmentalist born

*Marsha Coleman-Adebayo was born on this date in 1952. She is a Black administrator and activist for environmental justice. From Detroit, MI., she went to Mumford High School. Coleman received her BA degree from Barnard College/Columbia University and her doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She is a (former) senior policy analyst for the […]

Sabrina Sojourner, Activist born

*Sabrina Sojourner was born on this date in 1952.  She is a Black lesbian activist, former politician, and author.  From California, married when she was 18, and having a single son, Sojourner was subject to physical abuse by her former husband before they separated two years later.  She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre […]

William Darity Jr. Social Economist born

*William Darity Jr. was born on this date in 1953. He is a Black social scientist and economist. William A. ‘Sandy’ Darity Jr. was born in Norfolk, Virginia, and raised in Amherst, Massachusetts. His parents were William A. Darity Sr. and Evangeline Royal Darity. He has one sister. Darity Jr. graduated with a bachelor’s degree […]

Cornel West, Scholar, and Educator born

Cornel West, an African American scholar and activist, was born on this date in 1953.

Born in Tulsa, OK, he is one of America’s most prominent Black intellectuals. West earned a BA from Harvard University and his MA and PhD degrees from Princeton University. His first book, Prophesy Deliverance! An Afro-American Revolutionary Christianity (1982), sought to fuse Christianity and Marxism. He taught religion and directed the Afro-American Studies Department at Princeton prior to joining the Harvard faculty in 1994. There, West is the Alphonse Fletcher Jr., University Professor.

The Federation of South African Women is Formed

*The Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW) was formed on this date in 1954. FEDSAW was a multi-racial women’s organization and lobby group that organized and protested the institutional Apartheid Regime that was present throughout South Africa. FEDSAW became part of the Congress Alliance, an anti-apartheid coalition led by the African National Congress (ANC). The organization is also most […]

Mumia Abu-Jamal, Activist, and Writer born

*Mumia Abu-Jamal was born on this date in 1954. He is an African American activist and writer.

The Japanese Black Studies Association is Founded

*The Japanese Black Studies Association (JBSA) began on this date in 1954. It is a society founded under the “Black Research Society.”   Nukina Yoshitaka, a scholar in American literature, was one of the group’s founders.   He wrote that he was motivated to create the Black Studies Association because he believed the Japanese under the […]

Ruby Bridges, Children’s Education Advocate born

Ruby Bridges was born on this date in 1954. She is an African American activist.

Bridges was born in a little cabin around Tylerton, Mississippi to a very poor family. Her father, Abon, and mother, Lucille, were determined to get their daughter an education and take a stand. Because of their forthright and courageous actions, her father was fired from his job, and her grandparents were forced to leave a farm where they had been sharecroppers for 25 years.

Ophelia Garmon-Brown, Physician, and Community Activist born

*Ophelia Garmon-Brown was born on this date in 1954. She was a doctor (family medicine specialist), minister, author, and community activist. Ophelia Garmon was a Detroit native who moved to eastern North Carolina with her family. Her interest in medicine began when her father died from encephalitis. She earned a degree in biology from North […]

Al Sharpton, Minister and Activist born

*Al Sharpton was born on this date in 1954. He is a Black minister, talk show host, activist, and politician. Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. was born in New York City to Ada and Alfred Charles Sharpton Sr. The family has some Cherokee roots. He preached his first sermon at four and toured with gospel singer […]

Vic Rosenthal, Activist and Educator born

*Vic Rosenthal was born on this date in 1955. He was a white Jewish-American community organizer, educator, and social, racial, and economic justice activist.  Victor Rosenthal was born in the Bronx in New York City after his grandparents fled the Russian Pogroms. He was raised in Yonkers and received his B.A. in history from SUNY […]

Rosa Parks Is Arrested In Montgomery, Ala.

On this date in 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat in the “Whites only” section of a public bus in Montgomery, AL. She was arrested and agreed to let the NAACP provide legal council.

Rosa Parks’ case was filed in United States District Court, which ruled in her favor, declaring segregated seating on buses unconstitutional, a decision later upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

This incident set in motion the turning point in the 20th century African American battle for civil rights.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott Begins

On this date in 1955, the Montgomery Bus Boycott occurred. This was one of the pivotal starting points of the modern civil rights movement in America.

The Montgomery Improvement Association Begins

*The Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) was formed on this date in 1955. This organization of Black ministers and community leaders focused national attention on racial segregation in the South. Under the leadership of Ralph Abernathy, Martin Luther King Jr., Rufus Lewis, and Edgar Nixon, the MIA was instrumental in guiding the Montgomery bus boycott. Jo Ann Robinson of the Women’s Political Council […]