First Black to Sit in Legislature

Opera Producer

Theodore Drury, who had earlier produced operas with Black casts in New York City, organized and trained a Black company in Boston in the early years of the 20th century. In 1907 'Aida' and a scene from 'Carmen' were produced, and 'Faust' and 'Cavalleria Rusticana' in the following year.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Organization for a New Equality

The Organization for a New Equality ( O.N.E.) was founded in 1985 by Rev. Charles Stith, Senior Pastor of Union United Methodist Church. O.N.E. is a local and national vehicle for mounting strategies to develop economic opportunity for 'people of color' and racial harmony in cities and on college

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Gantt, Harvey Bernard (1943- )

Harvey B. Gantt, architect and politician, was born January 14, 1943 in Charleston, South Carolina to Christopher and Wilhelmenia Gantt. In 1961, Gantt attended Iowa State University. After one year of study, he returned to South Carolina and soon afterwards sued to enter racially segregated

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Source: Black Past

(1828) David Walker, “The Necessity of A General Union Among Us”

David Walker (1796-1830) is best known for his revolutionary pamphlet, Walker’s Appeal, in Four Ariticles: together with a preamble, to the coloured Citizens of the World, but in Particular and Very expressly to those of the United States of America. This twenty-six-page pamphlet warned of a bloody

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Source: Black Past

Dec

19

1828

Fullilove v. Klutznick (1980)

November 27, 1979, Argued

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Source: Black Past

Who Are the Notable African-American Architects?

Harvey B. Gantt (born January 14, 1943 in Charleston, South Carolina) fused a love of urban planning with the policy decisions of an elected official. Beginning his career, Gantt was forced to take legal action in order to study architecture in the state of his birth. In 1963, Gantt won the lawsuit

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Source: ThoughtCo

Black officers seek change in promotion test

City Councilor Andrea Campbell and labor lawyer Shannon Liss-Riordan joined members of the Massachusetts Association of Minority Law Enforcement Officers (MAMLEO) Tuesday to call for an end to the use of a controversial exam for Boston Police Department

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Source: The Bay State Banner

Kenya: Safi Organics Turns Farm Waste into Black Gold and Poor Farmers into Entrepreneurs

"This is the kind of impact we would like to deliver to smallholder farmers across the African continent," says Joyce Kamande, one of 25 African entrepreneurs who spent six weeks at Oklahoma State University last year as part of the Mandela Washington Fellowship, a flagship programme of the

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Source: allAfrica.com

Black-Owned Hotels

There were three Black-owned and operated hotels in Boston in 1915: the Pitts, Carlton, and Melbourne.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Assistant Attorney General

Glendora Putnam was the first African-American female lawyer to serve as an assistant Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She served under three state Attorneys General from 1963 to 1969: Edward W. Brooke, Elliot Richardson and Robert Quinn.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

MacArthur Fellows

Five African-Americans of Boston have received the prestigious MacArthur Fellows award from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in Chicago: Elma Lewis (1981) for Arts Education; Robert Moses (1982) Philosophy and Education; Sara Lawrence Lightfoot (1984) Sociology of Education; Muriel

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Massachusetts Legislative Black Caucus

In 1972 the Massachusetts Legislative Black Caucus was founded in an effort to coordinate the efforts of Black elected officials and make them more accountable to the Black community.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Phillis Wheatley

Phillis Wheatley, a slave in Boston who gained her freedom in 1772, became the first African-American to publish a book of poetry,Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Renowned Artist

In the mid-19th century Edward M. Bannister became one of the earliest Black artists in Boston to win widespread praise for his work. His crayon portraits were noted for their excellence. He later moved to Providence, Rhode Island, where he became the principal founder of the Providence Art Club.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Elma Lewis School

The Elma Lewis School was established in 1950 to give expert training in the arts to children, youth, and adults. Its students have performed on Broadway and in symphony orchestras. During its 40 years of existence, the School has been producing professional artists and changing the quality of life

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Rwanda's Fablab Shifts Focus to Production of Face Shields

A team of young tech innovators comprised of engineers, product developers, and designers in separate rooms is working to make sure that they hit the target of producing urgently needed face

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Source: allAfrica.com

Rainey, Gertrude “Ma” (1886-1939)

Businesswoman and entertainer Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, known as the Mother of Blues, was the most popular blues singer/songwriter of the 1920s. She is considered to be the first woman to introduce blues into her performances. As a single woman, she established her own entertainment company

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Source: Black Past

Medical First

In 1854 J. V. De Grasse (1825-1868) became the first Black physician admitted to the Massachusetts Medical Association.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Charles R. Drew

Charles Richard Drew (June 3, 1904 – April 1, 1950) was an American physician, surgeon, and medical researcher. He researched in the field of blood transfusions, developing improved techniques for blood storage, and applied his expert knowledge to developing large-scale blood banks early in World

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Source: Black Inventors

Boston Common 'Out of Bounds'

In 1742, when whites feared uprisings against oppression from the heavy concentration of slaves in Boston, the Boston Common was 'out of bounds' for Blacks and American Indians. The Black community of the city fought this restriction, but it was not until July 4, 1836 that they were allowed to use

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

David Walker: Abolitionist Smuggled "Appeal for a Slave Revolt" to the South in Used Clothing

David Walker: Abolitionist Smuggled “Appeal for a Slave Revolt” to the South in Used Clothing

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Source: Black Then

US tops 90,000 coronavirus deaths

The United States on Monday surpassed 90,000 deaths from the novel coronavirus and 1.5 million confirmed cases, according to a running tally from Johns Hopkins

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Source: Daily Nation - Breaking News, Kenya, Africa, Politics, Business, Sports | HOME

Nicholas Johnson is Princeton University’s First-Ever Black Valedictorian – Your Black World

For the first time in the higher education institution’s 274-year history, Princeton University named a black

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Source: Your Black World

Slavery Abolished in Massachusetts

The year 1773 saw increasing agitation among Blacks in Boston and Massachusetts for an end to slavery. On January 6, then in April, and again in May, they sent petitions first to royal General Thomas Gage and next to the Massachusetts legislature, denouncing slavery as destructive of natural rights

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Ronald McNair.

On January 20, 1986, Ronald McNair (1950-86) was the first black astronaut killed during a space mission, when the space shuttle Challenger met with disaster. McNair, a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was assigned to the shuttle Challenger which blew up shortly after take-off.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Jan

20

1986

Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal , original name Henry Saint Clair Fredericks (born May 17, 1942, New York, N.Y., U.S.), American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and one of the pioneers of what came to be called world music. He combined blues and other African-American music with Caribbean and West African music and

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Source: Brittanica

May

17

1942

Harris, Barbara C. (1930- )

Religious leader Barbara Clementine Harris was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Walter and Beatrice (Price) Harris on June 12, 1930. After graduating from the Charles Morris Price School of Advertising and Journalism, she joined Joseph V. Baker Associates, Inc., a black-owned public relations

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Source: Black Past

Brooke, Edward, III (1919-2015)

Edward William Brooke III was the first African American to be elected by popular vote to the United States Senate. Brooke, an African American, Protestant Republican, won elective office in the overwhelmingly white, Catholic, Democratic state of Massachusetts and emerged as a leader in the US

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Source: Black Past

Ronald McNair

Ronald McNair , in full Ronald Erwin McNair (born October 21, 1950, Lake City, South Carolina, U.S.—died January 28, 1986, in flight, off Cape Canaveral, Florida), American physicist and astronaut who was killed in the Challenger

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Source: Brittanica

Jan

28

1986

Student Unions

Beginning in the fall of 1968, Black student unions were formed in most Boston high schools to defend the rights of Black students and to push for educational reform in Boston.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

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