Source From http://www.blackamericaweb.com Oscar Dunn was the first elected black former slave to serve as lieutenant governor of Louisiana during Reconstruction. The self-educated Dunn learned public speaking from the actors who often stayed in his mother’s lodging house. As a young man, Dunn fought with the 1st Louisiana Native Guards in the Civil War, the […]
Source From http://black-history.blackvoices.com
Source From http://black-history.blackvoices.com After pushing through fund-raising and construction setbacks, the long-awaited memorial to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is scheduled to open in Washington, D.C., in fall of 2011. The culmination of 14 years of fund-raising, the project is now only $14 million away from it’s goal of $120 million. Once completed, the […]
Source From http://black-history.blackvoices.com Today we celebrate the birth of Martin Luther King Jr., a man known to America and the world because of his commitment to peace: peace as the goal and as the key strategy. If ever we needed a holiday to focus us on this ideal, it is now. I am unable […]
Source From http://www.blackamericaweb.com/? The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial is more than halfway complete, and the president of the foundation responsible for the project is confident it will be completed by Aug. 28, 2011 – the 48th anniversary of the slain civil rights leader’s “I Have a Dream” speech. The Martin Luther King Jr. […]
When Stephanie D. Wilson says she needs her space, she really means it. The 43-year-old Massachusetts native is a real-life astronaut and only the second African-American woman to be in space. Currently a part of the crew of the space shuttle Discovery, Wilson and the six other astronauts docked safely at the International Space Station […]
VIA: History.Com On January 18, 1958, hockey player Willie O’Ree of the Boston Bruins takes to the ice for a game against the Montreal Canadiens, becoming the first black to play in the National Hockey League (NHL). Born in 1935 in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, O’Ree was the son of a civil engineer, in one […]
VIA: ICDC.Com THE FBI’S COVERT ACTION PROGRAM TO DESTROY THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY INTRODUCTION In August 1967, the FBI initiated a covert action program — COINTELPRO — to disrupt and “neutralize” organizations which the Bureau characterized as “Black Nationalist Hate Groups.” 1 The FBI memorandum expanding the program described its goals as: 1. Prevent a […]
VIA: JackieRobinson.Com Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia in 1919 to a family of sharecroppers. His mother, Mallie Robinson, single-handedly raised Jackie and her four other children. They were the only black family on their block, and the prejudice they encountered only strengthened their bond. From this humble beginning would grow the first […]
VIA: TheKennedyCenter.Org (singer; born February 27, 1897, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) Most Americans best remember Marian Anderson for her conscience-grabbing concert at the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday, 1939 after she was denied the use of Constitution Hall, an arena that, from 1935 to 1952, opened its doors to white artists only. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, appalled […]
VIA: RedHotJazz.Com Mamie Smith was the first to record blues songs in 1920 with her versions of Perry Bradford’s “Crazy Blues”, and “It’ s Right Here for You” on Okeh Records. The record was a wild success, selling over a million copies in less than a year, and finally ending up selling over two million […]
VIA: NAACP.Org The NAACP was formed partly in response to the continuing horrific practice of lynching and the 1908 race riot in Springfield, the capital of Illinois and resting place of President Abraham Lincoln. Appalled at the violence that was committed against blacks, a group of white liberals that included Mary White Ovington and Oswald […]