KRLemmons African American History

October 31 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – October 31 *

1893 – Football player, William Henry Lewis, is named as an All-
American, playing for Harvard College. This is the second
year in a row he is named to the All American Team. He is
the first African American athlete to be named All
American.

1900 – Ethel Waters is born in Chester, Pennsylvania. She will
become a famous blues singer, the first woman to perform
W.C. Handy’s “St. Louis Blues,” and an actress known for
her roles in the movie “Cabin in the Sky” and such
stageplays as “Member of the Wedding”, for which she
will be nominated for a New York Drama Critics Award.
She will join the ancestors on September 1, 1977.

1935 – John Henry Lewis wins the world light heavyweight crown
in St. Louis, Missouri by defeating Bob Olin. He will
become the first American-born light heavyweight champion
to retire undefeated.

1945 – Educator, Booker T. Washington, is inducted into the Hall
of Fame for Great Americans.

1950 – Earl Lloyd becomes the first African American to play in
an NBA game when he takes the floor for the Washington
Capitols in Rochester, New York. Lloyd is actually one
of three African Americans to become NBA players in the
1950 season. The other two are Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton
and Chuck Cooper. Lloyd will play 9 solid NBA seasons
from 1950 to 1960.

1953 – John Harding Lucas II is born in Durham, North Carolina.
He will become a professional basketball player and play
guard for the Houston Rockets and Milwaukee Bucks. He
will become a NBA coach after retiring as a player. He
will coach the San Antonio Spurs, Philadelphia 76ers and
Cleveland Cavaliers, each for less than two seasons,
compiling a 174 – 258 overall record. Prior to accepting
the head coaching position for the Cavaliers, he will be
an assistant coach for the Denver Nuggets for three
seasons.

1969 – A racially motivated civil disturbance occurs in
Jacksonville, Florida. The disturbance is caused by
tensions between whites and Blacks during civil rights
demonstrations.

Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle and is edited by Rene’ A. Perry.

KRLemmons African American History

October 30 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – October 30 *

1831 – Nat Turner is remembered for his role in the slave
revolt that took place in Southampton county,
Virginia on August 21.

1939 – Eddie Holland is born in Detroit, Michigan. He will
become one-third of an amazing songwriting and
production trio, Holland-Dozier-Holland. Eddie
Holland will not be as successful on his own as when
teamed with brother Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier.
Eddie Holland will score his biggest hit as a solo
artist back in 1962, with “Jamie” reaching number six
on the R&B charts and peaking at #30 pop. He recorded
three more songs for Motown in the mid-’60s, but none
of them were hits, and he then concentrated on
songwriting and production. The Holland-Dozier-
Holland trio will write numerous hits for Motown acts
through the ’60s before departing in 1968. They will
form their own label in 1970, Hot Wax/Invictus, and
will have success for a while with such acts as The
Chairmen Of The Board, Laura Lee, and the Honey Cone.
Some of the songs written by the trio are “Where Did
Our Love Go”, “Baby Love”, “Stop! In the Name of Love”,
“I Hear a Symphony”, “You Keep Me Hangin’ On”, “Reach
Out”, and “I’ll Be There.” Holland-Dozier-Holland will
be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

1941 – Otis Miles is born in Texarkana, Arkansas. He will
become a rhythm and blues singer known as Otis Williams
and will be one of the original members of the Motown
group, The Temptations. Some of their hits will be “I
Can’t Get Next to You”, “Cloud Nine”, “Runaway Child”,
“Running Wild”, “Just My Imagination”, “Papa was a
Rolling Stone”, and “Masquerade.”

1950 – Philip “Phil” Chenier is born in Berkeley, California.
He will become a professional basketball player and will
be best known as a member of the Washington Bullets
team.

1954 – The Defense Department announces that all units in the
armed forces are now integrated. The announcement comes
six years after President Harry S. Truman issued
Executive Order 9981.

1966 – Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, students at Oakland City
College in Oakland, California, create the Black Panther
Party for Self Defense.

1976 – Joseph H. Evans is elected president of the United Church
of Christ, the first African American to hold the post
in this predominantly white denomination.

1978 – Esther Rolle wins an Emmy Award for her role in “Summer
of my German Soldier.”

1979 – Richard Arrington is the first African American to be
elected mayor of Birmingham, Alabama.

1989 – Frank Mingo, CEO of the Mingo Group, joins the ancestors
in New York City. He, along with D. Parke Gibson,
Barbara Proctor of Proctor and Gardner, and Tom Burrell
of Burrell Advertising was one of the pioneering
advertising executives who specialized in targeting
African American consumers.

1991 – Led by President Robert L. Johnson, BET Holdings, Inc.,
the parent company of Black Entertainment Television,
sells 4.2 million shares of stock in an initial public
offering on the New York Stock Exchange. BET is the first
African American company listed on the “Big Board.”

Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle and is edited by Rene’ A. Perry.

KRLemmons African American History

October 29 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – October 29 *

1902 – The Dinwiddle Quartet from Virginia is the first
African American singing group on record when they
record six single sided discs, including “Down at the
Old Camp Ground,” on the Victory Talking Machine
Company’s Monarch label.

1923 – Runnin’ Wild opens at the Colonial Theater, Broadway.
Miller and Lyles Productions introduced the Charleston
to New York and the world.

1924 – Dixie to Broadway, “the first real revue by Negroes,”
opens at the Broadhurst Theater, New York City, with
Florence Mills in the starring role.

1929 – The collapse of the stock market and the beginning of
the Great Depression. By 1937, 26 per cent of African
American males will be unemployed.

1945 – Beatrice Moore is born in New York, New York. She will
become an actress and singer better known as Melba
Moore. Her big break will come when she joins the cast
of the Broadway musical “Hair.” She will eventually win
the lead role. It will be the first time that an African
American actress replaces a white actress (Diane Keaton)
for a lead role on Broadway. That engagement will be
followed with another Broadway hit, “Purlie,” which
earns her a Tony Award and rave reviews. This success
will be followed by appearances in film and television.
In addition to her success in acting, she will have a
fruitful recording career.

1947 – The President’s Committee on Civil Rights condemns racial
injustices in America in a formal report, “To Secure
These Rights.”

1947 – Texas Southern University is established.

1947 – The NAACP Spingarn Medal is awarded to Dr. Percy L. Julian
for his achievements as a scientist.

1949 – Alonzo G. Moron, from the Virgin Islands, becomes the
first person of African descent to become president of
Hampton Institute (now University) in Hampton, Virginia.

1960 – Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) boxes in his first professional
fight, beating Tunney Hunsaker in 6 rounds.

1961 – Randy Jackson is born in Gary, Indiana. He will become a
member of the famed family group, “The Jackson Five.”

1969 – Johnson Products Company of Chicago, Illinois, the largest
African American hair-care products manufacturer, is
incorporated. Founded by George Johnson in 1954, in 1971,
it will become the first African American owned company
listed on the American Stock Exchange.

1969 – The U.S. Supreme Court states that school systems must end
segregation “at once” and “operate now and hereafter only
unitary schools.” In the Mississippi case, Alexander v.
Holmes, the Court abandons the principle of “all
deliberate speed.”

1974 – Muhammad Ali defeats George Foreman in Zaire to regain his
heavyweight crown in a fight billed as “The Rumble in the
Jungle.” In addition to the fight being the first
heavyweight title fight held in Africa, it is the 14th
Anniversary of Ali’s professional boxing debut.

1981 – William Otis Walker, publisher of the “Cleveland Call &
Post,” joins the ancestors at the age of 85. He was the
first African American to hold a post in the Ohio Cabinet
in 1963, and was national chairman for “Black Republicans
for Reagan and Bush” in 1980.

1987 – Thomas Hearns wins an unprecedented 4th boxing title in
different weight classes.

Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle and is edited by Rene’ A. Perry.

KRLemmons African American History

October 28 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – October 28 *

1862 – The First Kansas Colored Volunteers, while greatly
outnumbered, repulse and drive off a rebel force at Island
Mound, Missouri. This is the first engagement for African
American troops in the Civil War.

1873 – Patrick Healy becomes president of Georgetown University,
the oldest Catholic University in the United States and
becomes the first African American president of a
predominantly white university in the United States.

1914 – Omega Psi Phi fraternity is incorporated. Founded in 1911
by three students, Frank Coleman, Oscar J. Cooper and
Edgar A. Love and their faculty adviser, Ernest Everett
Just, the fraternity will grow to have over 90,000 members
in chapters throughout the United States and abroad.

1937 – Leonard Randolph “Lenny” Wilkens is born in Brooklyn, New
York. He will become a professional basketball player for
the St. Louis Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Portland Trail
Blazers and Seattle Supersonics. He will also coach every
team for which he played. In 1995, he will surpass Red
Auerbach as the NBA winningest coach, with his 939th
victory. On March 1, 1996, he will become the first coach
to win 1,000 regular season games. He and John Wooden will
become the only two persons to be elected to the Basketball
Hall of Fame as a player and coach.

1948 – Telma Louise Hopkins is born in Louisville, Kentucky. She will
become a member of the 1970’s group, “Tony Orlando and Dawn”,
and later a television actress. She will be best known for
her roles in “Bosom Buddies,” “Gimme a Break!,” “Family
Matters,” “Getting By,” and “Half & Half.”

1965 – Earl Bostic, popular jazz alto saxophonist and winner of the
1959 Playboy Jazz poll, joins the ancestors in Rochester,
New York. The Tulsa, Oklahoma native had begun his career
in the Midwest and, after studying music and playing with
bands in the South, landed with Lionel Hampton’s big band,
among others.

1973 – Elmore Smith of the Los Angeles Lakers blocks 17 shots in a
game to establish a NBA record.

1981 – Edward M. McIntyre is elected as the first African American
mayor of Augusta, Georgia.

Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle and is edited by Rene’ A. Perry.

KRLemmons African American History

October 27 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – October 27 *

1891 – Charles H. Garvin is born in Jacksonville, Florida. He
will become the first African American physician
commissioned in World War I.

1891 – Philip B. Downing, invents the street letter box and is
awarded patent # 462,093.

1924 – Ruby Dee is born in Cleveland, Ohio. She will become one
of the foremost actresses in America, beginning her
career on Broadway in the early 1940’s. She will marry
actor Ossie Davis and have a strong personal career with
such notable stage roles as “A Raisin in the Sun”,
“Purlie Victorious”, and “The Taming of the Shrew” as
well as work in numerous television series and movies
including “Raisin”, “Do the Right Thing”, and “Jungle
Fever.”

1951 – Jayne Kennedy is born in Washington, DC. She will become
an actress, writer and producer. Her movie credits will
include “Fighting Mad,” “Body and Soul,” “Mysterious
Island of Beautiful Women,” “Cover Girls,” “The Muthers,”
and “Group Marriage.”

1954 – Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. becomes the first African American
general in the history of the United States Air Force.
He is designated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

1960 – Martin Luther King Jr. is released on bond from the
Georgia State Prison in Reidsville. Political observers
say the John F. Kennedy call for King’s release increased
the number of African American voters who ensured his
election.

1971 – The Republic of the Congo becomes the Republic of Zaire.

1978 – President Carter signs the Hawkins-Humphrey full
employment bill.

1979 – St Vincent & the Grenadines becomes independent of Great
Britain.

1981 – Andrew Young, former United Nations Ambassador, is elected
mayor of Atlanta, Georgia.

2003 – Walter Washington, ex-mayor of Washington, DC, joins the
ancestors at age 88. He was the first elected mayor of
the nation’s capital in modern times and the first
African American to head the government of a major U.S.
city.

Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle and is edited by Rene’ A. Perry.

KRLemmons African American History

October 26 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – October 26 *

1868 – White terrorists kill several African Americans in St.
Bernard Parish, near New Orleans, Louisiana.

1868 – B.F. Randolph, state senator and chairman of the state
Republican party, is assassinated in broad daylight at
Hodges Depot in Abbeville, South Carolina.

1911 – Mahalia Jackson is born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Known
as the “Gospel Queen,” Jackson will become instrumental
in the popularization of gospel music and songs.
Jackson’s traditional gospel audiences transcended
beyond African American churchgoers through her
recordings, radio performances and concert tours in
America and abroad. Her recordings will sell millions of
copies. She will join the ancestors on January 27, 1972.

1919 – Edward William Brooke III is born in Washington, DC.
After serving in World War II and obtaining a law degree
from Boston University, he will be elected attorney
general of the State of Massachusetts and serve a term
of four years before being elected to the United States
Senate as a Republican in 1966, the first African
American Senator elected since Reconstruction. In the
Senate, Brooke will oppose President Nixon’s policies in
Southeast Asia, advocate low-income housing, and oppose
quotas to meet affirmative action goals. Among his
awards will be the NAACP’s Spingarn Medal in 1967.

1921 – Solomon Porter Hood is named minister to Liberia.

1934 – At a New York City conference, representatives of the
NAACP and the American Fund for Public Service plan a
coordinated legal campaign against segregation and
discrimination. Charles H. Houston, Vice-dean of the
Howard University Law School, is named director of the
NAACP legal campaign.

1950 – Walter E. “Chuck” Foreman is born in Frederick, Maryland.
He will become a star running back for the Minnesota
Vikings. He will be NFC Rookie of the Year in 1973 and
NFC Player of the Year in 1974 and 1976. He will also
play in losing efforts in Super Bowls VIII, IX, and XI.

1951 – William Collins is born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He will
become a rhythm and blues performer and bandleader known
as “Bootsy” Collins. He will form his first group, the
Pacesetters, in 1968. From 1969 to 1971, the group will
function as James Brown’s backup band and will be dubbed
the JB’s. In 1972, Bootsy will join George Clinton’s
Parliament/Funkadelic. He will launch Bootsy’s Rubber
Band as a spin-off of P-Funk in 1976. He will record
with Warner Brothers from 1976 through 1982. After a
six year hiatus, he will sign with Columbia Records in
1988 and actively record into the 1990s.

1951 – Joe Louis is defeated by Rocky Marciano in the eighth
round in a bout at Madison Square Garden.

1962 – Louise Beavers, who starred in more than 100 films,
including “Imitation of Life”, “The Jackie Robinson
Story”, and “Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House”,
joins the ancestors in Los Angeles, California.

1970 – Following 3 1/2 years of forced isolation from boxing,
Muhammad Ali returns to the ring and beats Jerry Quarry
in Atlanta, Georgia.

1976 – Trinidad & Tobago becomes a republic.

1977 – Dr. Clifford R. Wharton Jr. is named chancellor of the
State University of New York.

1980 – Ten African American Roman Catholic bishops issue a
pastoral letter asserting that “the Church must seize
the initiative to ‘share the gift of our blackness with
the Church in the United States.'”

Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle and is edited by Rene’ A. Perry.

KRLemmons African American History

October 25 African American Historical Events

 

* Today in Black History – October 25 *

1806 – Benjamin Banneker joins the ancestors at the age of 74
in Ellicott Mills, Maryland. Banneker was a self-
taught mathematician and builder (at age 21) of the
first striking clock built in the United States. An
amateur astronomer, Banneker’s calculations for solar
and lunar eclipses appeared in 29 editions of his
almanacs, published from 1792 to 1797.

1915 – Attorney James L. Curtis is named minister to Liberia.

1926 – Crisis magazine, led by editor W.E.B. DuBois, awards its
first prizes in literature and art. Among the winners
will be Arna Bontemps’ poem “Nocturne at Bethesda,”
Countee Cullen’s poem “Thoughts in a Zoo,” Aaron
Douglas’ painting “African Chief” and a portrait by
Hale Woodruff.

1940 – The Committee on the Participation of Negroes in the
National Defense Program met with President Roosevelt.

1940 – The National Newspaper Publishers Association is
founded.

1940 – The Spingarn Medal is presented to Dr. Louis T. Wright
for his civil rights leadership and his contributions
as a surgeon.

1940 – Benjamin Oliver Davis, Sr. is promoted to Brigadier
General, the first African American to attain that rank
in the United States Army or any other branch of the
Armed Forces.

1958 – Ten thousand students, led by Jackie Robinson, Harry
Belfonte and A. Phillip Randolph, participate in the
Youth March for integrated schools in Washington, DC.

1958 – Daisy Bates, head of the Arkansas chapter of the NAACP,
and the nine students who integrated Little Rocks’s
Central High School are awarded the Spingarn Medal for
their courage and leadership in the civil rights
struggle.

1962 – Uganda is admitted as the 110th member of the United
Nations.

1968 – The city of Chicago officially recognizes Jean Baptiste
Pointe du Sable as its first settler.

1973 – Abebe Bikila, Ethiopian marathoner who won the Olympic
Gold Medal in 1960 and 1964, joins the ancestors at
the age of 46.

1976 – Clarence “Willie” Norris, the last surviving member of
the nine Scottsboro Boys, who were convicted in 1931
of the alleged rape of two white women on a freight
train, is pardoned by Governor George Wallace. Norris
had spent 15 years in prison and had been a fugitive
fleeing parole in Alabama in 1946.

1983 – Mary Francis Berry, professor of history and law at
Howard University, and two other members of the Civil
Rights Commission are fired by President Ronald Reagan.
Considered a champion of minority concerns on the
Commission, Berry will charge the administration with
attempting to “shut up” criticism. She will later sue
and be reinstated.

1983 – The United States and six other Caribbean nations
invade the island nation of Grenada.

1988 – Two units of the Ku Klux Klan and eleven individuals
are ordered to pay $1 million to African Americans who
were attacked during a brotherhood rally in
predominately white Forsythe County, Georgia.

1990 – Evander Holyfield knocks out James “Buster” Douglas in
the third round of their twelve-round fight to become
the undisputed world heavyweight champion.
Holyfield’s record stood at 25-0, with 21 knockouts.

1997 – The Million Woman March, organized by grass root sisters,
led by Sister Phile Chionesu and Sister Asia Coney,
takes place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The event
is attended by 1.3 million attendees (300,000 to 1
million according to Philadelphia officials). The MWM
had been promoted by word of mouth and avoided
traditional media and mainstream groups, such as
sororities and many civil rights groups. Sis. Chionesu
calls the march “a declaration of independence from
ignorance, poverty, enslavement, and all the things
that have happened to us that has helped to bring about
the confusion and disharmony that we experience with
one another.”

Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle and is edited by Rene’ A. Perry.

KRLemmons African American History

October 24 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – October 24 *

1892 – 25,000 African American workers strike in New Orleans,
Louisiana. This is the first major job stoppage in U.S.
labor history by African Americans.

1923 – The U.S. Department of Labor issues a report stating that
approximately 500,000 African Americans had left the South
in the preceding twelve months.

1935 – Langston Hughes’s play “Mulatto” opens on Broadway. It will
have the longest run of any play by an African American
until Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun.”

1935 – Italy invades Ethiopia. African Americans hold mass meetings
of protest and raise funds for the Ethiopian defenders.

1936 – The Boston Chronicle blasts the soon-to-be-released movie
“The Big Broadcast” of 1937 for featuring a white pianist
who appears in the movie while Teddy Wilson actually plays
the music: “The form of racial discrimination and
falsification of acts…is frequently duplicated by many
whites in their daily dealings with Negroes…Negro farm
hands and laborers in other fields of industry produce
billions of dollars of wealth, but the white landowners and
sweat shop operators get all the profit.”

1942 – In recognition of the influence of so-called race music,
Billboard magazine creates its first ratings chart devoted
to African American music, The Harlem Hit Parade. The
number-one record is “Take It & Git” by Andy Kirk and His
Twelve Clouds of Joy, featuring Mary Lou Williams on piano.

1948 – Frizzel Gray is born in Baltimore, Maryland. Better known as
Kweisi Mfume, an adopted African name that means “Conquering
Son of Kings,” he will be elected a congressman from
Maryland’s 7th District in 1986. He will later leave the
Congress to become the head of the NAACP.

1964 – Kenneth David Kuanda becomes President of Zambia as Zambia
(Northern Rhodesia) gains independence from Great Britain.

1972 – Jack Roosevelt “Jackie” Robinson joins the ancestors at the
age of 53 in Stamford, Connecticut.

Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle and is edited by Rene’ A. Perry.

KRLemmons African American History

October 23 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – October 23 *

1775 – The Continental Congress approves resolution prohibiting
the enlistment of African Americans in the Army.

1783 – Virginia emancipates slaves who fought for independence
during the Revolutionary War.

1790 – A major slave revolt occurs in Haiti, which is later
suppressed.

1847 – William Leidesdorff brings his ship Sitka from Sitka,
Alaska, to San Francisco, California. Earlier in the
year, the Danish West Indies Native had launched the
first steamboat ever to sail in San Francisco Bay. The
ventures were one of many activities for Leidesdorff,
which included appointment as United States vice-counsel
for property acquisition in San Francisco.

1886 – Wiley Jones operates the first streetcar system in Pine
Bluff, Arkansas.

1911 – Three organizations, The Committee for Improving the
Industrial Conditions of Negroes in New York, The
Committee on Urban Conditions and The National League
for the Protection of Colored Women merge, under the
leadership of Dr. George E. Hayne and Eugene Kinckle
Jones, to form the National Urban League. Eugene
Kinckle Jones is named executive secretary.

1940 – Edson Arantes do Nascimento is born in a small village
in Brasil called Três Corações in the Brasilian state
of Minas Gerais. He will become a soccer player and at
the age of sixteen will join the Brasilian National
team. He will be known world-wide as Pele’, seen as
the greatest player in history of soccer. After
retiring from his team, the Santos, he will be
recruited to play for the New York Cosmos in 1971,
playing an additional three years. He will score
1,281 goals in his career.

1945 – Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers signs Jackie
Robinson to the club’s Triple A farm team, the Montreal
Royals. In a little under 18 months, Robinson will be
called up to the majors, the first African American to
play major league baseball in the twentieth century.

1947 – The NAACP petition on racism and racial injustice, “An
Appeal to the World,” is presented to the United
Nations at Lake Success, New York.

1951 – The NAACP pickets the Stork Club in support of Josephine
Baker, who had been refused admission to the club a
week earlier. After a city-convened special committee
calls Baker’s charges unfounded, Thurgood Marshall will
call the findings a “complete and shameless whitewash
of the long-established and well-known discriminatory
policies of the Stork Club.”

1966 – “Supremes” Album Tops U.S. Charts. The record “Supremes
A Go Go” becomes the top-selling LP album in the U.S.
It is the first album by an all-female group to reach
that position. One of the most successful groups of
its kind, the Supremes, fronted by Diana Ross, will
have seven albums reach the top 10 during the 1960s.

1968 – Kip Keino of Kenya wins an Olympic Gold Medal for the
1,500 meter run (3 min 34.9 sec).

Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle and is edited by Rene’ A. Perry.

KRLemmons African American History

October 22 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – October 22 *

1854 – James Bland is born in Flushing, New York. He will
write over 700 songs including “Oh, Dem Golden
Slippers” and “Carry Me Back to Old Virginny.” The
latter song will be selected in 1940 as the state
song of Virginia, the state’s legislators little
knowing the identity and race of its composer.
Virginia will decide to change their state song in
the late 1990s due to protest from civil rights
activists who say that the song glorifies slavery and
is inappropriate. He will join the ancestors on May
5, 1911 after succumbing to tuberculosis.

1906 – Three thousand African Americans demonstrated and
rioted in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to protest a
theatrical presentation of Thomas Dixon’s “The
Clansman”.

1936 – Bobby Seal is born in Dallas, Texas. He will become a
Black political activist and co-founder, with Huey
Newton, of the Black Panther Party.

1950 – Charles Cooper and Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton become two
of the first three African Americans to play in an
NBA game. Cooper had been drafted by the Boston
Celtics on April 25, 1950, becoming the first African
American ever drafted by a NBA team.

1952 – Frank E. Peterson, Jr. is commissioned as the first
African American marine aviation officer.

1963 – 225,000 students boycott Chicago public schools in a
Freedom Day protest against de facto segregation.

1986 – In an interview with the Washington Post, Spike Lee
says, “Movies are the most powerful medium in the world
and we just can’t sit back and let other people define
our existence, especially when they’re putting lies out
there on the screens.”

1990 – President Bush vetos major civil rights legislation,
arguing that the measure would force employers to adopt
hiring quotas. The veto is later upheld.

1991 – Thirty African American delegates conclude a three-day
visit to the Republic of South Africa at the invitation
of the African National Congress. While there,
TransAfrica’s Randall Robinson charges President Bush
with failing to exert his influence to end Black
township strife and Congresswoman Maxine Waters vows
to press United States’ cities and states to maintain
sanctions against the republic.

Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle and is edited by Rene’ A. Perry.