People, Locations, Episodes

Ras Baraka, Politician born

*Ras Baraka was born on this date in 1970.  He is a Black educator, author, and politician. A Newark, NJ. native, Baraka is the son of poet and activist Amiri Baraka and his wife, Amina. Baraka was educated in the Newark Public Schools and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Howard University in Washington, DC, and […]

Harold Ford Jr., Tennessee Politician born

*Harold Ford was born on this date in 1970. He is an African American politician and lawyer.

Ketanji Brown Jackson, Lawyer, and Judge born

*Ketanji Brown Jackson was born on this date in 1970. She is a Black attorney and a federal judge. Ketanji Onyika Brown was born in Washington, D.C. Her parents graduated from historically black colleges and universities. Her father, Johnny Brown, ultimately became the Miami-Dade County School Board; her mother, Ellery, served as school principal at […]

The Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland is Formed

*The founding of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland is celebrated on this date in 1970.  This American political organization comprises African Americans elected to the Maryland General Assembly. Since incorporation, the Caucus membership has grown from 17 to 44 and is one of the country’s largest state legislative black caucuses.   Lena King Lee founded the caucus, then became a Maryland House of Delegates […]

The Angola Three, a story

*The Angola Three are celebrated on this date in 1971. Three former black prison inmates are Robert Hillary King, Albert Woodfox, and Herman Wallace. They were held for decades in solitary confinement while imprisoned at Louisiana State Penitentiary (also known as Angola Prison). Wallace and Woodfox were each sent to Angola Prison in 1971: Wallace […]

Idi Amin Takes Over Uganda

*On this date in 1971, Idi Amin Dada became president and ruler of Uganda. He was the deputy commander of Uganda’s armed forces ousted President Obote to get control of the country.

The one-time heavyweight-boxing champion’s erratic and brutal rule of eight years left the country in disarray. A year after becoming president, he expelled non-Africans, mostly Asians, some 40 to 50 thousand people, from the country. He nationalized foreign companies and killed as many as 300,000 Ugandans who opposed his policies. The Ugandan economy collapsed.

Fani Willis, Lawyer, Judge, and Prosecutor born

*The birth of Fani Willis is celebrated on March 1, 1971.  She is a Black attorney, judge, and prosecutor. Fani Taifa Willis was born in Inglewood, California. Her father was a member of the Black Panthers and a criminal defense attorney. When Willis was in the first grade, her family moved to Washington, D.C. Her parents divorced, […]

Griggs v. Duke Power Co. is Decided

*On this date in 1971, Griggs v. Duke Power Co. was decided.  This court case was argued before the United States Supreme Court on December 14, 1970. It concerned employment racial discrimination and the adverse impact theory.  It is generally considered the first case of its type.  The Supreme Court ruled that the company’s employment […]

Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg B. O. E. is Decided

*On this date in 1971, Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education was decided.  This was a landmark United States Supreme Court case dealing with busing students to promote integration in public schools.   The Court held that busing was an appropriate remedy for the problem of racial imbalance in schools, even when the imbalance resulted from the selection of students based on […]

The Southern Poverty Law Center is Founded

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) was founded on June 30, 1971 as a legal activist center in the fight for justice and tolerance.

SPLC began as a small civil rights law firm. Today, the Center is internationally known for its tolerance education programs, its legal victories against white supremacists and its tracking of hate groups. The Center was founded by Morris Dees and Joe Levin in Montgomery, AL. Its first president was civil rights activist Julian Bond. Through the years, the Center has worked to make America’s Constitutional ideals a reality.

Williams v. Eaton is Decided

*On this date in 1971, Williams v. Eaton was decided.  This case challenged the constitutional right to free speech and was part of an incident at the University of Wyoming football program. 

Alice Bah Kuhnke, Politician born

*Alice Bah Kuhnke was born on this date in 1971. She is an Afro Swedish (Black Swede) politician and former actress. Alice Bah grew up in Horda in Småland, Sweden, the daughter of a Gambian father and a Swedish mother. She attended a track-and-field-oriented high school in Växjö and was one of the country’s best female sprinters […]

Camillo Gonsalves, Lawyer, and Diplomat born

*Camillo Gonsalves was born on this date in 1972. He is a Black Vincentian politician, lawyer, and diplomat. Camillo Michael Gonsalves was born in Philadelphia to Ralph E. Gonsalves, the current Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and his then-wife, Sonia V. Gonsalves, a Professor of Psychology at Stockton University. Gonsalves obtained a […]

The Kitty Hawk Riot Takes Place

*On this date in 1972, The USS Kitty Hawk Riot occurred.  This was a racial conflict between white and black sailors aboard the United States Navy aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk that night while positioned at Yankee Station off the coast of North Vietnam during the Vietnam War.  In the early days of the Vietnam War, black service members represented less than 5% of the Navy.    By 1971, after President […]

The First Black Southern Congress Representatives Since Reconstruction Are Elected

On this date in 1972, Barbara Jordan and Andrew Young became the first African Americans from the South elected to Congress since Reconstruction.

Jordan represented Houston, TX., and Young was a representative of Atlanta, GA.