*The A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI) is celebrated on this date in 1965. They are an organization for African American trade unionists. APRI uses legal and legislative means to advocate social, labor, and economic change at the state and federal levels. In response to the 1963 Children’s Crusade and the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, A. Philip […]
learn moreThe March Against Fear began on this date in 1966. It was a major demonstration in the 20th-century American Civil Rights Movement in the South. Activist James Meredith launched the event on June 5, 1966, intending to make a solitary walk from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi, via the Mississippi Delta, starting at Memphis’s Peabody Hotel and […]
learn more*The Way Opportunities Unlimited was incorporated on this date in 1966. This was a non-profit Minneapolis Northside community center. It was established following the racial and economic urban North Minneapolis riots of 1966. Black city leaders came together to create a space in the neighborhood devoted to cultivating racial stability among black youths. Syl Davis […]
learn moreOn this date in 1966, the Black Panther Party (BPP) was founded. It was a Black political organization; originally known as the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense.
learn more*Majora Carter was born on this date in 1966. She is a Black urban revitalization strategist and public radio host. Majora Carter was born in South Bronx, New York, where she attended the Head Start Program and primary schools. After graduating from the Bronx High School of Science, she entered Wesleyan University in 1984 to study film and obtained a Bachelor of Arts. 1997 she received a Master […]
learn moreOn this date in 1966, Stokely Carmichael (who later was known as Kwame Ture), then chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), gave his famous Black Power speech.
learn moreOn this date in 1966, Abner Louima was born. He is a Black Haitian-American electrical engineer, police brutality survivor, and activist. Abner Louima was born and raised in Thomassin, a small community in Haiti. He emigrated to the United States in 1991, married, and had one child. In 1997, he was living in Brooklyn with his family. He had been trained […]
learn more*On this date in 1967, The Black Panther Newspaper was published. This was the official newspaper of the Black Panther Party (BPP). It began as a four-page newsletter in Oakland, California, and was founded by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. The newspaper distributed information about the party’s activities and expressed through articles the ideology of the Black Panther Party, […]
learn moreOn this date in 1967, African American boxing champion Muhammad Ali refused to be drafted into the U.S. Army and was eventually stripped of his heavyweight boxing title. Ali, a Muslim, cited religious reasons for his decision to forgo Vietnam military service. Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., in Louisville, Kentucky, the future three-time world champ changed his name […]
learn more*On this date in 1968, we celebrated the founding of Blackside Productions. Now called Blackside, Inc., it was founded by the late Emmy award-winning documentary filmmaker Henry Hampton. It is a production company dedicated to raising our consciousness about America’s social progress and history. The films that have resulted from this quest have set a higher […]
learn more*On this date in 1968, Eartha Kitt addressed racism in America at a White House luncheon hosted by Lady Bird Johnson. In early 1968, the first lady hosted the first of a series of “Women Doer” luncheons, intended to gather women leaders from around the country to address a variety of growing or endemic problems. The […]
learn more*The Republic of New Africa was founded on this date in 1968. The Republic of New Afrika (RNA) is a black nationalist organization and black separatist movement in the United States popularized by black militant groups. The New Afrika movement has three goals: · Creation of an independent black-majority country situated in the Southeastern United […]
learn more*The founding of the British Black Panthers is celebrated on this date in 1968. (BBP) The British Black Panther movement (BPM) was a Black Power organization in the United Kingdom that fought for the rights of Black people and people of color. The American Black Panther Party, though they were unaffiliated with them. Malcolm X […]
learn more*Van Jones was born on this date in 1968. He is an African American environmental and civil rights activist, and attorney.
learn more*Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf was born on this date in 1969. He is a Black former professional basketball player and activist. Born Chris Jackson in Gulfport, Mississippi, the son of Jacqueline Jackson. He was raised in a single-parent family with his two brothers, Omar and David. His childhood was characterized by poverty, as there were times when […]
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