*On this date in 1967, the Minneapolis Riot occurred. This uprising was one of the 159 riots that swept across cities in the United States during the “long, hot summer of 1967”. The reported origins vary from the police mishandling a teen dispute over a wig to a pre-meditated plot by Stokely Carmichael. Widespread violence, including […]
learn moreOn this date in 1965, Hicks v. Knight was filed. The suit, aimed against Bogalusa Chief of Police Claxton Knight, argued that police “must protect black demonstrators instead of harassing them, beating them, arresting them, and leaving them at the mercy of white mobs.” The racial episode at Cassidy Park, especially the canine attack on […]
learn more*The Miles Davis Quintet is celebrated on this date in 1955. These were two jazz groups formed from 1955 to early 1969, led by Miles Davis. Most references relate to two distinct and relatively stable bands: the First Great Quintet from 1955 to 1959 and the Second Great Quintet from late 1964 to early 1969, Davis being the […]
learn more*The 761st Tank Battalion saw combat on this date in 1944. They were a Black segregated tank battalion of the United States Army during World War II. The 761st were known as the Black Panthers after their distinctive unit insignia, which featured a black panther’s head, and the unit’s motto was “Come out fighting.” The […]
learn more*The African Diaspora is affirmed on this date in 1000. This term is for the global group of communities descended from Indigenous African people from Africa, predominantly in the Americas. Many Africans scattered throughout North America, South America, Europe, and Asia during the Middle Passage, Trans-Saharan, and Indian Ocean slave trades. The phrase most commonly refers […]
learn more*On this date in 2022, a public water health crisis in Jackson, Mississippi, began. This occurred after the Pearl River flooded due to severe storms in the state. The flooding caused the O. B. Curtis Water Treatment Plant, the city’s largest water treatment facility already running on backup pumps due to failures the month prior, […]
learn more*The Little Rock Nine is celebrated on this date in 1957. The Little Rock Nine were nine African American students who were first denied but eventually enrolled to integrate Arkansas Little Rock Central High School. The U.S. Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education decision occurred on May 17, 1954. Tied to the Fourteenth Amendment, the decision declared […]
learn more*On this date in 1908, Marie C. Bolden, a Black girl, won the first National Education Association (NEA) Spelling Bee in America. This team-based, inter-city spelling bee was at the Hippodrome Theater in Cleveland, Ohio. Predating the 1st Scripps National Spelling Bee in 1925 by seventeen years, this competition was the first national spelling bee […]
learn more*On this date in 1924, Black History and restrictive housing covenants in America are affirmed. Historically, restrictive covenants were used in real estate transactions to influence the demographics of communities in the U.S. The restrictions kept certain populations out of specific neighborhoods, encouraging racial, ethnic, and cultural segregation. It wasn’t uncommon for real estate contracts to […]
learn moreDr. Charles Blockson is a historian, author, and collector of African American content. In this segment, he shares some historical components that created the Underground Railroad in America.
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