People, Locations, Episodes

The ‘Central Park Five Case’ is Settled

*On this date in 2014, New York City agreed to a $40 million settlement with five men who were falsely convicted in the vicious rape and beating of a Central Park jogger in 1989. The agreement still needs the approval of the city comptroller and a federal judge.

The Arthur, and Edith Lee House is Preserved

*On this date in 2014, the Arthur and Edith Lee House, a historic home located in the Field neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.   In June 1931, the home was purchased by Arthur and Edith Lee, a Black couple. At the time, the surrounding area was considered […]

Eric Garner is Killed By The Police

*On this date in 2014, Eric Garner was killed in the New York City borough of Staten Island.    This happened after Daniel Pantaleo, a white-American New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer, put him in a chokehold while arresting him.  Video footage of the incident generated widespread national attention and raised questions about law enforcement’s appropriate use of force. On December 3, 2014, a Richmond […]

The First Black Women Leads a Major Sports Union

*On this date in 2014, The National Basketball Players Association elected the first Black woman to lead a major North American sports league union.

Michele Roberts became the NBPA’s executive director; she is a prominent Washington civil litigator. Roberts, an attorney with Skadden, Arps, Slate, and Meagher & Flom was recommended by NBPA president Chris Paul and the nine-member executive committee. She won with 32 of 34 votes among committee members and team player representatives. She won over the players with a strong background in litigation and an unblemished character.

Michael Brown is Killed by Police in Ferguson, MO.

*The police shooting of Michael Brown occurred on this date in 2014. The shooting happened in Ferguson, Missouri, a northern suburb of St. Louis. Darren Wilson, a white Ferguson police officer, killed Brown, an 18-year-old Black teenager, after Brown reportedly robbed a convenience store. An altercation ensued, with Brown and Wilson struggling through the window […]

Laquan McDonald Murdered By The Police

*On this date in 2014, the murder of Laquan McDonald took place in Chicago, Illinois.  He was a 17-year-old Black youth fatally shot by white-American Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke.   Shortly before 10:00 p.m. that evening, police were called to investigate McDonald at 4100 South Pulaski Road, responding to reports that he was carrying a knife and breaking into vehicles in a trucking yard […]

America Elects Its First Black Republican Woman to Congress

*On this date in 2014, the first Black Republican woman was elected to Congress in U.S. history.

Utah Voters sent Mia Love, the former small-town mayor in that state to Washington DC. She won a narrow victory in the state’s open Fourth Congressional District adding noticeable buzz to the Republican celebrations over their election-night shellacking of Democrats across the country.

The ‘Friendship Nine’ Case is Overturned

*On this date in 2015, the convictions of nine South Carolina Black men who integrated a whites-only lunch counter in 1961 were overturned.

White SAE Fraternity Members Are Caught Singing a Racist Song

*On this date in 2015, white student members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity from the University of Oklahoma were caught performing a racist chant against African Americans.

A White Policeman Shoots an Unarmed Black Man in the Back

*On this date in 2015 an American White police officer killed another unarmed Black man.

Nine Black Parishioners Murdered By a White Man During During Bible Study

*On this date in 2015, a white man attending a bible study at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina shot nine African Americans to death.

Jamar Clark Is Killed by Police in Minneapolis

*On this date in 2015, Jamar Clark was killed by the police.  He was a 24-year-old Black man. Clark was shot and killed by two white-American Minneapolis police officers, Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze.   Clark was attending Nekelia Sharp’s birthday party, which was hosted at her apartment on the 1600 block of Plymouth Avenue […]

The United Nations Urges Reparations From American Slavery

*On this date in 2016, A United Nations working group visiting the United States walks away “extremely concerned about the human rights situation of African Americans,” members said in a preliminary report released, in which they urged the US government to address the legacy of slavery with “reparatory justice,” a national human rights commission, and ongoing criminal justice reform.

Philando Castile is Murdered by Police

*On this date in 2016, Philando Castile was murdered.  He was a 32-year-old Black man fatally shot during a traffic stop by Jeronimo Yanez, a 28-year-old Latino police officer from St. Anthony, Minnesota.   Castile was driving with his partner Diamond Reynolds and her four-year-old daughter when, at 9:00 p.m., Yanez and another officer in […]

The National Museum of African American History and Culture Opens

*The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) opened on this date in 2016.