*On this date, 1960, Boynton v. Virginia was a decision by the United States Supreme Court. The case overturned a judgment convicting Bruce Boynton, a Black law student, for trespassing by being in a restaurant in a bus terminal that was “whites only.” It held that racial segregation in public transportation was illegal because such segregation violated the Interstate Commerce Act, which broadly forbade discrimination in interstate passenger transportation. It […]
learn more*On this date in 1961, Holmes v. Danner was decided. This civil rights case was won to permit the desegregation of the University of Georgia. Hamilton Holmes, a minor, by his father and next friend, Alfred Holmes, and Charlayne A. Hunter, a minor by her mother and next friend, Mrs. Althea Brown Hunter, on behalf […]
learn more*On this date in 1961, South Africa gained independence from Britain. This was the first step in the redemption from the Berlin Conference convened. That episode marked the high point of white European competition for African territory, a process commonly known as the Scramble for Africa. The country became a republic following a referendum (only open […]
learn more*Barack Obama was born on this date in 1961. He is an African American lawyer, politician and activist. He is also the first Black person elected as President of the United States of America.
learn more*On this date in 1961, Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia. Eritrea is in East Africa. It is bordered to the northeast and east by the Red Sea, Sudan to the west, Ethiopia to the south, and Djibouti to the southeast. Eritrea lies between latitudes 12° and 18°N and longitudes 36° and 44°E. A branch of the […]
learn more*uMkhonto we Sizwe was formed on this date in 1961. This Army was the paramilitary wing of the African National Congress (ANC). Nelson Mandela founded uMkhonto we Sizwe after the Sharpeville massacre. Its mission was to fight against the South African government. Its name is of Xhosa pronunciation, meaning “Spear of the Nation,” abbreviated MK. After warning the […]
learn more*This date in 1962 celebrates Burundi’s independence from Belgium. Burundi is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley where the African Great Lakes region and East Africa converge. It borders Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and southeast, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west; Lake Tanganyika lies along its southwestern border. The capital cities are Gitega and Bujumbura. Burundi began its drive for independence on January 20, […]
learn more*On this date in 1962, The Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 went into effect. This was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a pushback against the Windrush generation and non-white colonial citizens of Britain. Before the Act was passed, citizens of Commonwealth countries had extensive rights to migrate to the UK. […]
learn more*Rwanda gained independence from Belgium on this date in 1962. Separated from Burundi, the episode is commemorated as Independence Day, a national holiday. This came after decades of colonial strife following the Berlin Conference of 1884. Modern human settlement in what is now Rwanda dates from, at the latest, the last glacial period, either the […]
learn more*Tanya Chutkan was born on this date in 1962. She is an Afro Caribbean lawyer and judge. Tanya Sue Chutkan was born in Kingston, Jamaica. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1983 from George Washington University and a Juris Doctor in 1987 from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. From 1987 to 1990, she worked at the […]
learn more*On this date in 1962, Jamaica celebrates its independence from British colonial rule. The Caribbean island was settled first by hunter-gatherers from the Yucatan and then by two waves of Arawak people from South America. Christopher Columbus arrived in Jamaica in 1494 and took it for the Crown of Castile. At this time, over two […]
learn more*Trinidad and Tobago gained its independence from the United Kingdom on this date in 1962. Trinidad, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it shares maritime boundaries with Barbados to the northeast, Grenada to the northwest, Guyana to the southeast, and Venezuela to the south and west. The British […]
learn more*On this date in 1962. Meredith v. Fair was ruled. This was a desegregation suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi on May 31, 1961. This involved the desegregation of the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss). Plaintiff, transfer student, and activist James Meredith claimed he had been denied admission to Ole […]
learn moreOn this date in 1962, Uganda achieved its independence from Great Britain. After much experimenting, a federal constitution was promulgated in April.
learn more*Sherrilyn Ifill was born on this date in 1962. is a Black lawyer, author, and non-profit administrator. From New York City, her family immigrated to the U.S. from Barbados; she is the cousin to former PBS journalist Gwen Ifill, with fathers who were brothers, both becoming African Methodist Episcopal ministers. Ifill received her B.A. degree from Vassar College and her J.D. degree from New York University School […]
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