People, Locations, Episodes

The State of Connecticut Apologizes For American Slavery

*On this date in 2009 Connecticut formally apologized for its role and complicity in American Slavery.

Barack Obama Awarded The Nobel Peace Prize

*On this date in 2009, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to President Barack Obama of the United States.

White Senator Apologizes for His Racial Remark

*On this date in 2010 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid apologized publicly for a racial remark he made in 2008. During the presidential campaign Reid called Barack Obama a “light-skinned” African American who didn’t have a “Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.”

Malcolm X’s Assasin Is Released From Prison

*On this date in 2010, the only man to admit shooting Malcolm X was freed on parole, 45 years after he assassinated the civil rights leader.

Allegheny, PA. Bar Posthumously Admits George Vashon To Practice Law

*On this date in  2010, a Black man was admitted to the Allegheny County Bar posthumously 163 years after he applied.  In 1847, the Allegheny County Bar denied George Boyer Vashon entry because he was Black. Vashon reapplied to the bar in 1868 and was again denied.  Pennsylvania was a “free state” before the American […]

Africans March in Bastille Day Parade For The First Time

*On this date in 2010, African soldiers from countries in France’s former colonial empire marched in the annual Bastille Day military parade in Paris.

Black Photographer Revealed as an Informant

*On this date in 2010, The Commercial Appeal newspaper in Memphis published a story that African American photographer Ernest C. Withers, was also an FBI informant.

Police Brutality Protest in Oakland, CA Occurs

*On this date in 2010 the Black community in Oakland, California protested and verdict in the death of another black man by an Oakland police officer.

The George Washington House Opens

*On this date in 2010, the George Washington House in Philadelphia opened to the public. This was the historic home of America’s first president and slave owner.

Freedom Riders Hold Their 50th Reunion in Alabama

On this date in 2011, Freedom Riders who were attacked in Birmingham, Alabama returned to that city 50 years later. 

Another Hate Crime Murder Ocurrs in Mississippi

*On this date in 2011 a group of white teenagers killed a black man in Jackson Mississippi.

The Cherokee Nation Expels Black Indians

*On this date in 2011, the nation’s second-largest Indian tribe formally expelled from membership thousands of descendants of Black slaves who were brought to Oklahoma more than 170 years ago by Native American owners.

White Supremacist is Executed

*On this date in 2011, a White supremacist gang member was executed for the infamous dragging death slaying of a Black man in 1998.

Racial Incident Occurs at National Hockey League Game

*On this date in 2011, a racial incident happened in a National Hockey League game.

The Philadelphia Flyers and Detroit Red Wings played in a neutral site exhibition game in London, Ontario. Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds was in the middle of his shootout attempt when a fan inside the Labatt Centre threw a banana peel in his path. Simmonds, an African Canadian still beat Red Wings goaltender Jordan Pearce.

The Martin L. King Jr. Memorial is Dedicated

*On this date in 2011, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial was dedicated. It is located in West Potomac Park in Washington, D.C., southwest of the National Mall (but within the larger area commonly referred to as the “National Mall”).