*On this date in 1968, Swaziland gained its independence from Britain. This was another step for African countries’ self-rule after the white European invasion resulting from the Berlin Conference of 1884. Following the 1967 elections, Swaziland was a protected state until independence was regained the following year. Following the elections of 1973, the constitution […]
learn more*On this date in 1968, Carol M. Jenkins was murdered. She was a Black woman killed by a white man before hate crimes due to race were a common term. While she was selling encyclopedias door to door, Jenkins was murdered in Martinsville, Indiana. Thirty-four years later, on May 12, 2002, authorities arrested Kenneth C. […]
learn moreOn this date in 1968, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, African American sprinters, were suspended from the Olympic Games in Mexico City.
They were suspended after they held up their fists in a Black Power salute while receiving their medals at the awards ceremony. The athletes’ actions came to symbolize the Black Power movement in sports.
learn moreOn this date in 1969, students took over Morrill Hall at the University of Minnesota.
The Morrill Hall takeover was the result of many decades of neglect and discrimination of Black students by the University. Despite an increase in Black students at thre University and in colleges and universities nationwide, the faculty and administration had remained indifferent to their cultural and racial needs. The two-day siege, orchestrated by nearly 70 people, was spearheaded by the African American students at the school.
learn more*On this date in 1969, Shuttlesworth v. Birmingham was decided. This was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Supreme Court struck down a Birmingham, Alabama, ordinance that prohibited citizens from holding parades and processions on city streets without obtaining a permit. The Petitioner was Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth, a Black minister who helped lead 52 African Americans in an orderly civil rights march in Birmingham, […]
learn moreSoul City was established on this date in 1969. It was a planned community first proposed in North Carolina by Floyd McKissick, a civil rights leader and director of the Congress of Racial Equality. The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funded Soul City as one of thirteen model city projects under the […]
learn more*The Panther 21 episode is affirmed on this date in 1969. They were twenty-one Harlem Chapter Black Panther members arrested and accused of a planned, coordinated bombing and long-range rifle attacks on two police stations and an education office in New York City. Among the defendants were Afeni Shakur, Lumumba Shakur, Ali Bey Hassan, Michael Tabor, […]
learn moreOn this date in 1969 more than 80 members of the Afro American Society took over Willard Straight Hall, Cornell University’s student union.
The takeover had been prompted by a reprimand of three Black students for an incident the previous December and a cross burning (both incidents occurred the previous day) in front of the Black women’s cooperative and other cases of alleged racism. A deal was eventually cut between protesters and Cornell administrators, and the students left the building a day later.
learn moreOn this date in 1969, Moneta Sleet became the first African American photographer awarded the Pulitzer Prize for journalism.
He won for his moving photograph of Coretta Scott King and her daughter attending the funeral of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
learn more*On this date in 1969, United States v. Montgomery County Board of Education was decided. In this action, the United States District Court in Montgomery, Alabama, ordered the local Montgomery County Board of Education to desegregate the county school system’s faculty and staff based on race. This action commenced in May 1964 to end racial segregation in […]
learn more*On this date in 1969, Kramer v. Union Free School District No. 15, 395 U.S. 621 was decided. This was a United States Supreme Court decision in which the Court struck down a longstanding New York State statute requiring that to be eligible to vote in certain school district elections; an individual must either own or rent taxable real property within the school district, […]
learn more*Black history and the Weather Underground Organization (WUO) in America are affirmed on this date in 1969. The Weather Underground was a radical left militant organization active in the late 1960s and 1970s, founded on the campus of the University of Michigan. It was initially called the Weathermen. The WUO was organized that year as […]
learn more*Black history and the Stonewall Riots are affirmed on this date in 1969. The Stonewall riots, also known as the Stonewall Uprising, Stonewall Rebellion, or simply Stonewall, were protests by members of the LGBT community. They responded to a police raid at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, New York City. Patrons of the Stonewall, […]
learn more*On this date in 1969, the first performance played at the Harlem Cultural Festival. Also known as the Black Woodstock, this was a series of music concerts in Harlem, Manhattan, and New York City. The concerts celebrated African American music and culture and promoted the continued politics of Black pride. Some artists included Nina Simone, B.B. King, Sly & the Family Stone, Chuck Jackson, Abbey Lincoln & Max Roach, The 5th Dimension, Gladys […]
learn more*The Temptations Show, a one-hour syndicated television special starring the Motown singing group The Temptations, aired on this date in 1969. Produced by Motown Productions, it guest-starred George Kirby and Kaye Stevens. Among the featured musical numbers were Temptations singles such as “Get Ready,” “Cloud Nine,” and “Run Away Child, Running Wild,” pop standards such […]
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