*On this date in 1893, the renowned Czech composer Antonín Dvořák debuted the performance of his most famous symphony, This classic recognized the significance of American Negro spirituals and their contributions to the culture of the United States. Dvořák came to America at the invitation of music patron and entrepreneur Jeanette Meyers Thurber in 1892. […]
learn more*Thanksgiving, 1777 and African American history is briefly address on this date. That year, the turning point of America’s Revolutionary War occurred with victory over the British at Saratoga. In response the Continental Congress then delivered a decree for the 13 colonies to give thanks. Black slaves also took part in the celebration throughout the […]
learn more*On this date in 2018, colleagues of Alabama State University (ASU) came to pay their respects to soldiers who died one hundred years ago. They Gathered at Oakwood Cemetery in Montgomery, Ala. More than 350,000 African Americans served in segregated units during World War I. They were fighting for rights they didn’t have in America […]
learn more*On this date in 2016, the funeral of Martha Peterson a black woman took place at Saint Mark’s African Methodist Episcopal Church in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens. This episode was unique because Peterson was born in the 19thcentury. On Oct. 4, 2011, construction workers were using a backhoe to clear soil from an […]
learn more*On this date in 2017,’ five African American cheerleaders at Kennesaw State University knelt during the national anthem. Located in Georgia, Kennesaw State University cheerleader Shlondra Young told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution they would kneel until the US flag “represents what it should,” another cheerleader, Michaelyn Wright, said of their protest, “It was the scariest thing I’ve ever […]
learn more*On this date in 2018, Ethiopia elected the country’s first female president. Sahle-Work Zewde, a seasoned diplomat assumed the largely ceremonial post, many celebrated Africa’s only current female head of state. The continent’s first female president, Liberia’s Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, left office this year. “In a patriarchal society such as ours, the appointment of a […]
learn more*On this date in 1873, Brooklyn, Illinois was incorporated. Itis one of the oldest towns incorporated by African Americans in the United States. The States name “Illinois” comes from a Native American word meaning “tribe of superior men.” Illinois became a state on December 3, 1818. Also known as Lovejoy it is located two miles north of East St. Louis, Illinois and three […]
learn more*The Treaty of Tordesillasor Tratado de Tordesilhas was signed on this date in 1494. It was signed in at Tordesillas Spain and authenticated at Setubal, Portugal and shows the 15thcentury intersectionality between Africa and European slavery. The treaty divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between the Portuguese Empire and the Crown of Castile, along a meridian 370 leagueswest of the Cape Verde islands, off the west coast of […]
learn more*The Articles of Confederation of the United States of America were enacted on this date in 1781. Formally called the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, it was an agreement among that served as Americas first constitution after being ratified by all 13 states. It was approved, between July 1776 and November 1777, by the Second Continental […]
learn more*On this date in 2008, white American politician John McCain publicly defended the religious and ethnic humanity of Barrack Obama. During the 2008 American Presidential campaign, there was a highly-charged open meeting in a high school gymnasium in Lakeville, Minn. There was a growing public display of fear and unease over Obama in which other […]
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