Breakfast: Seven ways to know you’ve been dumped

(1899) Lucy Craft Laney, “The Burden of the Educated Colored Woman”

Lucy Craft Laney was born in Macon, Georgia, in 1854, into a family of ten children. Taught to read and write by her mother, a domestic worker, she graduated from Macons Lewis High School and entered Atlanta University at the age of fifteen and graduated in 1873. Laney taught in the Georgia public

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Source: Black Past

The Great Migration

The Great Migration began. Approximately two million Southern Blacks moved to Northern industrial centers in the following

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Dec

4

1915

Charles Mitchell, Slavery, and Washington Territory in 1860

Few people connect Washington Territory with slavery. However one incident in 1860 was a reminder that the peculiar institution reached the pre-Civil War Pacific Northwest. In the account below, historian Lorraine McConaghy describes the saga of Charles Mitchell whose attempted escape from

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Source: Black Past

Sep

24

1860

Hendrix, Jimi (1942-1970)

Legendary self-taught, left-handed guitarist Jimi Hendrix was born and raised in Seattle, Washington, the son of Lucille Jeter Hendrix and Al Hendrix. Jimi grew up in poverty but he loved science fiction, art, nearby Lake Washington and music, especially the R&B masters, Chuck Berry and Ray

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Source: Black Past

Sep

18

1970

(1987) Clarence Thomas, “Why Black Americans Should Look to Conservative Politics”

Much has been said about blacks and conservatism. Those on the Left smugly assume blacks are monolithic and will by force of circumstances always huddle to the left of the political spectrum. The political Right watches this herd mentality in action, concedes that blacks are monolithic, picks up

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Source: Black Past

Executive Order 9808

In the aftermath of World War II, mob violence and lynching of Black Americans, in conjunction with the continuing controversy about segregation in American society, led President Harry S. Truman to issue Executive Order 9808 on this day which set up a committee to study the protection of civil

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Dec

5

1946

Evelyn Bundy Band (c. 1926)

Formed in 1926, the Evelyn Bundy Band was one of the earliest and most influential local jazz ensembles to contribute to the Seattle, Washington jazz

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Source: Black Past

O’Neal, Adrienne S. (1954- )

In 2011, Adrienne S. O’Neal, career Foreign Service officer with the rank of Minister Counselor, was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as ambassador to the Republic of Cabo Verde (or Cape Verde). O’Neal was born in Durham, North Carolina in 1954 to Samuel and Vernese Boulware ONeal. Her

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Source: Black Past

African American and Black History Blog

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Source: Black History Resources

Jazz pianist Theolonius Monk is born in Rocky Mount, NC.He was only oneof 3

Jazz pianist Theolonius Monk is born in Rocky Mount, NC. He was only one of 3 jazz musicians ever featured on the cover of Time magazine

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Oct

10

1917

Zephaniah, Benjamin (1958 - )

Benjamin Zephaniah, poet, playwright, novelist and activist, was born on April 15, 1958, the first of eight children, in Birmingham, England. Zephaniah grew up in Wandsworth until the age of nine when his mother, a Jamaican nurse, fled his father, a postman from Barbados. Leaving behind his twin

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Source: Black Past

Apr

15

1958

La Tribune de la Nouvelle-Orléans (1864-1868)

The New Orleans Tribune was the first African American daily newspaper in the United States. Started in 1864 by Charles Louise Roudanez the Tribune was notable in that it was bilingual. Articles were written in both French, for the majority of African Americans in Louisiana, and English, in order

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Source: Black Past

Paul Robeson and Japanese Americans, 1942-1949

One hero and friend of Japanese Americans, both individuals and the community generally, was Paul Robeson. Robeson was (after Joe Louis) the most popular and visible African American of the 1930s and 1940s. He was a celebrated stage actor and movie star, an internationally famous folk

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Source: Black Past

Askia Muhammad Toure

Askia Muhammad Touré (1493-1528), established the Askia dynasty of

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Jan

0

Davy, Gloria (1931-2012)

Gloria Davy, a rich-voiced (lirico-spinto) soprano who “sang for the sheer joy of singing” had a four decade career as a concert singer. Early in her career she replaced Leontyne Price as Bess in the 1954 international tour of Porgy and Bess. In 1958 she broke color barriers when she

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Source: Black Past

Algiers Motel Incident (1967)

The Algiers Motel Incident occurred in Detroit, Michigan on July 25, 1967, two days after the Detroit Race Riot began. The incident started when Army National Guardsman Ted Thomas reported hearing gunshots at the Algiers Motel Annex. Detroit Police, Michigan State Police, and other National

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Source: Black Past

Jul

25

1967

Nelson Mandela is released

Nelson Mandelas greatest pleasure, his most private moment, is watching the sun set with the music of Handel or Tchaikovsky

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Feb

11

1990

Ragsdale, Marguerita (1948- )

Marguerita Dianne Ragsdale was born in April 1948 in Richmond, Virginia to Lillie and Vernon Ragsdale and raised alongside her five sisters on a farm in McKenney, Dinwiddie County, Virginia. After starting her undergraduate work at Virginia State University in Petersburg, she transferred to

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Source: Black Past

(1830) Rev. Peter Williams, Jr. “This is Our Country”

Fourteen years after its founding the American Colonization Society remained controversial among African Americans. By 1830 many of them opposed it and more generally the idea of forced or voluntary repatriation of blacks to Africa. One of these opponents, Rev. Peter Williams, Jr., the minister

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Source: Black Past

Jul

4

1830

Withers, John Lovelle, II (1948- )

In 2007, Ambassador John L. Withers II, a second generation diplomat, was appointed by President George H.W. Bush to serve as ambassador to Albania. Withers was born in 1948 in Guilford, North Carolina, to John L. Withers, Sr. and Daisy P. Withers. His father had briefly worked as a political

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Source: Black Past

(1849) Charles Sumner, “Equality Before the Law: Unconstitutionality of Separate Colored Schools in Massachusetts”

In 1848 Benjamin Roberts filed a lawsuit against the city of Boston on behalf of his five year old daughter, Sarah, who was denied admission to schools in her neighborhood and instead assigned to the lone all-black school in the city. Two attorneys, Robert Morris, one of the first black lawyers in

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Source: Black Past

Feb

15

1793

Booker T. Washington

Born: 4/5/856 Hales FordDied: /4/95 Tuskegee, Alabama, U.S.Booker T. Washington was an African-American educator, author, orator, and advisor to presidents of the United States. Between 890 and 95, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American community. Washington was from the last

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Cowboys of Color in South America

In the following account North Carolina State University historian Richard Slatta explores the little known history and heritage of South American cowboys of African and mixed race

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Source: Black Past

Walker, Darren (1959– )

Philanthropist Darren Walker is the tenth president of the seventy-seven-year-old Ford Foundation, the second largest philanthropy in the world. Walker was born August 28, 1959, at a charity hospital in Lafayette, Louisiana, to a single mother and was raised in East Texas. He received two degrees

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Source: Black Past

Aug

28

1959

Aretha Franklin

Born: 3/25/1942 Memphis, TennesseeAretha Franklin is an American singer and musician. Franklin began her career singing gospel at her father, minister C. L. Franklins church as a child. In 1960, at the age of 18, Franklin embarked on a secular career, recording for Columbia Records but only

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Source: Blackfacts.com

(1963) Malcolm X, “Message to the Grassroots”

On December 10, 1963, while still the leading spokesman for the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X gave a speech at a rally in Detroit, Michigan. That speech outlined his basic black nationalist philosophy and established him as a major critic of the civil rights movement. The speech appears

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Source: Black Past

Dec

10

1963

(1904) Mary Church Terrell, “The Progress of Colored Women”

Mary Church Terrell, the daughter of former slaves, became by the beginning of the 20th century one of the most articulate spokespersons for womens rights including full suffrage. In 1896 she was elected president of the National Association of Colored Women and by 1910 she was a charter member of

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Source: Black Past

First Scat Singing Ever Recorded

Don Redman performed the first recorded scat vocals while a member of Fletcher Hendersons Orchestra. Scat singing is an improvised vocal instrumentation composed of nonsense syllables. Don Redman scatted a few bars of My Papa Doesnt Two-Time No Time, recorded in New York by Columbia. Although Louis

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Apr

16

1924

Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder is an internationally renowned singer, song writer and musician. He was born on May 13, 1950, in Saginaw, Michigan. His birth name was Steveland Hardaway Judkins and as a result of being born premature, he was kept in the incubator where an over exposure to oxygen caused him to lose

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Source: Black History Resources

May

13

1950

6 Must-See Malcolm X Posters

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Source: Black History Resources

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