*On this date in 1968, the Civil Rights Act of 1968 was signed. This federal law prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing. President Lyndon Johnson signed this landmark act into law almost immediately following the Martin Luther King assassination riots in America. It was the final primary legislation passed in the modern 20th-century American Civil […]
learn more*The Housing and Urban Development Act was enacted on this date in 1968. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed this landmark law in the United States during the King assassination riots. Titles II through VII comprise the Indian Civil Rights Act, apply to the Native American tribes of the United States, and make many but […]
learn more*On this date in 1968, Green v. School Board of New Kent County, 391 U.S. 430, was decided. This was a United States Supreme Court case dealing with the freedom of choice plans created to avoid compliance with the Court’s mandate in public school segregation, Brown II. The Court held that New Kent County’s freedom of choice plan did not adequately comply with […]
learn more*This date in 1968 affirms the beginning of the National Conference of Black Lawyers (NCBL). They are an African American association originally formed to offer legal assistance to black civil rights activists; it comprises judges, law students, lawyers, legal activists, legal workers, and scholars. That founding year, young people of African descent in America were growing impatient with the slow pace of […]
learn more*On this date in 1968, Swaziland gained its independence from Britain. This was another step for African countries’ self-rule after the white European invasion resulting from the Berlin Conference of 1884. Following the 1967 elections, Swaziland was a protected state until independence was regained the following year. Following the elections of 1973, the constitution […]
learn more*The National Black Law Students Association (NBLSA) is celebrated on this date in 1968. NBLSA is a nationwide organization formed to articulate and promote the needs and goals of black law students and effectuate change in the legal community. 1968, Algernon Johnson Cooper Jr. founded the first Black American Law Students Association at the New […]
learn moreThis date is the anniversary of the origin of the Congressional Black Caucus in 1969.
It is a group of African American members of the United States Congress who focus on issues of particular interest to Black Americans. Newly elected African American representatives of the 77th Congress joined six incumbents to form the “Democratic Select Committee” which began the organization. The committee was renamed the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) in 1971 .
learn more*On this date in 1969, Shuttlesworth v. Birmingham was decided. This was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Supreme Court struck down a Birmingham, Alabama, ordinance that prohibited citizens from holding parades and processions on city streets without obtaining a permit. The Petitioner was Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth, a Black minister who helped lead 52 African Americans in an orderly civil rights march in Birmingham, […]
learn more*Nyamko Sabuni was born on this date in 1969. She is an Afro Swedish (Black Swede) politician and former government cabinet minister. Nyamko Ana Sabuni was born in Bujumbura, Burundi. Her family relocated in exile after her father, Maurice Sabuni, a left-wing politician from Congo (formerly Zaire), had been frequently jailed. The Sabuni family is Muslim and […]
learn more*Cory Booker was born on this date in 1969. He is an African American politician.
learn more*On this date in 1969, United States v. Montgomery County Board of Education was decided. In this action, the United States District Court in Montgomery, Alabama, ordered the local Montgomery County Board of Education to desegregate the county school system’s faculty and staff based on race. This action commenced in May 1964 to end racial segregation in […]
learn more*On this date in 1969, Kramer v. Union Free School District No. 15, 395 U.S. 621 was decided. This was a United States Supreme Court decision in which the Court struck down a longstanding New York State statute requiring that to be eligible to vote in certain school district elections; an individual must either own or rent taxable real property within the school district, […]
learn more*On this date in 1969, Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education, 396 U.S. 19 (1969), was decided. It followed 15 years of delays to integration by most Southern school boards after the Court’s ruling in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) that segregated public schools were unconstitutional. This was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court ordered immediate […]
learn more*Benjamin Crump was born on this date in 1969. He is a Black lawyer specializing in civil rights and catastrophic personal injury cases such as wrongful death lawsuits. Benjamin Lloyd Crump was born near Fort Bragg in Lumberton, North Carolina. The oldest of nine siblings and stepsiblings, Crump grew up in an extended family and […]
learn moreOn this date in 1969, Los Angeles police raided the Black Panther headquarters, in L.A., four days after police assassinated Black Panthers Fred Hampton and Mark Clark in Chicago.
During the battle, the Panthers withstood the police attacks, including a bomb dropped on the roof of the building. Frustrated, the police arrested Elmer Geronimo Pratt, the Panther’s Deputy Minister of Defense, on a fabricated robbery and murder charge that was later dismissed.
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