People, Locations, Episodes

Supreme Court Judge’s Visit is Challenged

*On this date in 2002, five Black professors boycotted a daylong visit to the University of North Carolina Law School by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

African Woman Sentenced to Die by Stoning

*On this date in 2002, a Black Nigerian woman convicted of adultery was sentenced to death by stoning.

The First Black Woman Wins Oscar for Best Actress

*On this date in 2002, the first Black woman won the Academy Award for best actress. Halle Berry received the honor for her role in “Monster’s Ball” the award left the star in tears and unable to speak for nearly a minute. “This moment is so much bigger than me,” she finally choked out, ticking off the names of other Black actresses.

Non-white Coaches Make it to NCAA Basketball Final Four

*On this date in 2002, two Black coaches in the NCAA’s Final Four competed against one another for the first time. Indiana University coach Mike Davis and Oklahoma University coach Melvin Sampson were the first Final Four match up featuring two minority coaches.

Davis, an African American and Sampson, a Native American from the Lumbee (African) Tribe.

Church Bombing Hate Crime Tried 39 Years Later

On this date in 2002, the last of the bomb killers of four Black children in Alabama was convicted.

Closing the books on the deadliest crime of the civil rights era, a jury convicted an aging former Klansman of murder for the 1963 church bombing that shook the nation’s soul. The verdict, reached by a racially mixed jury in less than seven hours of deliberation, brought tears from relatives on both sides and a statement of defiance from the 71-year-old defendant, Bobby Frank Cherry.

The ‘No Fear Act’ is Signed into Law

On this date in 2002, President George W. Bush signed the No FEAR Act.

The Notification and Federal Employee Anti-discrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002 (No FEAR ACT), was the first civil rights law of the 21st century. No FEAR, among other things, requires agencies to make employees aware of discrimination and whistle blower protection laws. This provision is the result of the tireless work of Marsha Coleman-Adebayo.

Black Farmers Stage a Sit-In Protest

On this date in 2002, the Black Farmers & Agriculturalists Association staged a “prayer vigil and sit in.”

Black farmers from Georgia, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi and other southern states, and the national president of Black Farmers & Agriculturalists Association (BFAA), Gary R. Grant, participated. The first of five protests took place at the Farm Services Agency (FSA) offices in Brownsville and Bolivar, Tennessee. It was in support of Black farmers who had been denied or delayed operating loans.

Africville, Nova Scotia is Declared a Historic Landmark

*On this date from 2002, the Registry celebrates Africville, Nova Scotia.

Black Teenager Beaten By Police In Los Angeles

On this date in 2002, police brutality continued towards young Black men.

A white Inglewood, California, police officer, Jeremy Morse, was video taped slamming 16-year-old Donovan Jackson (who is Black) onto the trunk of a squad car and then punching him in the head at a gas station. Bystander Mitchell Crooks made the videotape.

The video showed Morse lifting a handcuffed Jackson to his feet and slamming the youth’s face into a car hood. Morse, who has a streak of blood next to his ear, then struck Jackson on the face with his fist.

The First Black President Of The Alabama State Bar Is Elected

On this date in 2002, the first Black president of the Alabama state bar association was installed.

Fred Gray, Sr., who defended Rosa Parks in her landmark bus segregation case and represented victims of the well-known Tuskegee syphilis experiment, has broken another racial barrier at age 71. With his installation he assumes a post that white attorneys normally achieve when they are in their 50s.

Alabama’s law schools did not admit blacks in the early 1950s, so Gray headed to Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. His goal: “To destroy everything segregated I could find.”

The Cannon Street Little League Team is Honored

On this date in 2002, the surviving members of the all-Black 1955 Cannon Street YMCA Little League all-star team were honored.

National Rally for Reparations Held in Washington D.C.

*On this date in 2002, hundreds of Blacks rallied in front of the nation’s capitol to demand slavery reparations, saying that compensation is long overdue.

Those in attendance and speakers included Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and John Conyers, Democratic Congressman from Michigan. Many major names in the Black civil rights movement were not present, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Rev. Al Sharpton.

Since 1989, Conyers has proposed a commission to study the institution of slavery every year, and he urged the crowd to pressure Congress again.

The First Black Woman Leads Community College Trustees

*On this date in 2002, the first African American woman to chair the Association of Community Colleges Trustees was elected.

Brenda Knight led the organization, which represents more than 1,200 colleges, 6,500 trustees, and 11 million students in America. Knight, a California native served her term and is currently the community and government relations coordinator for the Oakland Unified School District.

The ‘Help America Vote Act’ is Signed

*On this date in 2002, the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) became law.  This is a United States federal law that was signed into law by President George W. Bush. The bill was drafted (at least partly) in reaction to the controversy surrounding the 2000 U.S. presidential election when the Florida Central Voter File disqualified almost […]

Racism Continues In Greater Minnesota

On this date in 2002 hate crimes continued against Blacks in Minnesota.

A racist message was spray-painted on a wall outside the Mediterranean Restaurant and Grocery in St. Cloud. “Get out of St. Cloud Nigger” was the message and it clearly was intended for the shop’s Somali proprietor. Ismail Mohamed, 23, manager of the restaurant was the latest target in a series of hate-based incidents.