*Algernon J. Cooper, Jr. was born on this date in 1944. He is a Black politician and lawyer. Algernon Johnson Cooper, Jr., his sister was Peggy, and brother, Gary, was born in Mobile, Alabama, to Gladys Catherine Mouton and Algernon Johnson Cooper, Sr. Cooper attended St. Peter Claver Elementary School in Mobile, Alabama, until attending […]
learn more*Charles Ogletree was born on this date in 1952. He was a Black legal scholar and author of books on legal topics. Charles James Ogletree Jr. was born in Merced, California, to parents who were farm workers. He earned his B.A. (1974, and MA (1975) in political science from Stanford University and his J.D. from […]
learn more*The National Black Law Students Association (NBLSA) is celebrated on this date in 1968. NBLSA is a nationwide organization formed to articulate and promote the needs and goals of black law students and effectuate change in the legal community. 1968, Algernon Johnson Cooper Jr. founded the first Black American Law Students Association at the New […]
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*Lawrence Rainey was born on this date in 1923. He was a white-American police officer and white supremacist. Lawrence Andrew Rainey Sr. grew up in Neshoba and Kemper County, Mississippi. His parents were John and Bessie Rainey. Rainey had a younger brother who died at a young age. Rainey’s education stopped at the 8th grade. His […]
learn more*Cecil Price was born on this date in 1938. He was a white-American police officer and white supremacist. Cecil Ray Price was born in Flora, Mississippi, and graduated from Flora High School in 1956. After graduation, Price became a deputy sheriff in Neshoba County, Mississippi, and joined the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. On June […]
learn more*William Gladstone was born on this date in 1809. He was a white British statesman, enslaver, and politician. Born in Liverpool, William Ewart Gladstone was of Scottish ancestry, the fourth son of the wealthy enslaver John Gladstone and his second wife, Anne MacKenzie Robertson. In 1814, young “Willy” visited Scotland for the first time, as […]
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*William H. Davis was born on this date in 1872. He was a Black educator, pharmacist, and American government official. William Henry Davis was born in Louisville, Kentucky, to former slaves Jerry and Susan Davis. He graduated from Louisville Colored High School in June 1888 at the age of 16, second in his class of […]
learn more*The birth of Fani Willis is celebrated on March 1, 1971. She is a Black attorney, judge, and prosecutor. Fani Taifa Willis was born in Inglewood, California. Her father was a member of the Black Panthers and a criminal defense attorney. When Willis was in the first grade, her family moved to Washington, D.C. Her parents divorced, […]
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