Senator Floats D.C. Statehood Bill on Dem-Controlled Hill

Ross, Michael K. (1941-2007)

Michael K. Ross was a Washington State legislator, civil rights activist, and contractor who, although he worked from within established political channels, was not afraid to go against the grain to affect social

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Source: Black Past

More than one hundred delegates from six states

More than one hundred delegates from six states held a Black convention in Philadelphia. John Mercer Langston, one of the first Blacks to win public office, elected clerk of Brownhelm Township, Lorain County, Ohio. In 1856 he was elected clerk of the township of Russia, near Oberlin. In 1857 he was

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Oct

16

1855

Yuonne Brathwaite Burke

In 1972 Yuonne Burke was the first black woman elected to Congress from Califorinia.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Jan

0

1972

Madagascar

After a bitter power struggle with opposition leader Andry Rajoelina, the former mayor of the capital, Antananariv, Ravalomanana resigned as president in March 2009. He handed power over to the military, which in turn transferred control to Rajoelina, who then suspended Parliament. The turmoil

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

President Grant sent federal troops to Vicksburg,

President Grant sent federal troops to Vicksburg, Mississippi.

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Jan

5

1875

(1837) William Whipper, “Non-Resistance to Offensive Aggression”

? Few Americans are aware of the deep roots of peace activism in the African American community. Benjamin Banneker, the 18th Century mathematician and astronomer, recommended that a “Secretary of Peace” be added to the President’s cabinet whose chief function would be to craft measu

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Source: Black Past

Sep

9

2016

Colin Powell

Born: 4/5/937 Harlem, New YorkColin Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under U.S. President George W. Bush from 200 to 2005, the first African American to serve in that position. During

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Big Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Atlanta, Georgia (1847- )

Big Bethel African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church is the oldest African American church in Metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. Like Wheat Street, First Congregational, and the King’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, Bethel A.M.E. has been a religious, social, economic, and cultural pillar of the African

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Source: Black Past

Withers, John Lovelle, II (1948- )

In 2007, Ambassador John L. Withers II, a second generation diplomat, was appointed by President George H.W. Bush to serve as ambassador to Albania. Withers was born in 1948 in Guilford, North Carolina, to John L. Withers, Sr. and Daisy P. Withers. His father had briefly worked as a political

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Source: Black Past

Congressman Denny Heck, Olympia, Washington

On November 6th, 2012, the residents of Washington’s new 10th Congressional District elected Denny Heck to be the district’s first member of the United States House of Representatives. Since taking office, Congressman Hecks top priorities have been creating jobs, growing our economy and keeping the

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Source: Black Past

(1963) Josephine Baker, “Speech at the March on Washington”

Josephine Baker is remembered by most people as the flamboyant African American entertainer who earned fame and fortune in Paris in the 1920s. Yet through much of her later life, Baker became a vocal opponent of segregation and discrimination, often initiating one-woman protests against racial

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(1995) William Jefferson Clinton, “the Job of Ending Discrimination in This Counrt is Not Over”

In July 1995, President Bill Clinton delivered a major speech at the White House in defense of Affirmative Action programs across the nation at a time when many critics were calling for their repeal. He argued that such programs were still needed in a talk he officially titled, The Job of Ending

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Sommersett, James (c1741-c1772)

James Sommersett was the subject of a landmark legal case in Great Britain, which was the first major step in imposing limits on Trans-Atlantic African slavery. Sommersett entered the pages of history when in 1771, he fled his North American owner, Charles Stewart, while both were living in

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Source: Black Past

Jun

22

1772

Saint Paul’s College of Virginia (1888-- )

Saint Paul’s College of Virginia is a private college located in Lawrenceville, Virginia. The college was founded on September 24, 1888, by James Solomon Russell, a newly-ordained deacon in the Protestant Episcopal Church. He became the first principal of the institution, which in 1890 was

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Sep

24

1888

Burundi

President Nkurunziza ran for a second term in 2010. He ran unopposed as the opposition boycotted the race, claiming there were irregularities in earlier local elections. The opposition formed a new party, the Alliance of Democrats for Change (ADC-Ikibiri). Nkurunziza announced in June 2014 that he

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Sudan

In April 2010, Bashir easily won Sudans first multi-party elections since 1986, with 68% of the vote. Several opposition parties boycotted the election, and international observers questioned the fairness of it, citing ballot-box stuffing and other allegations of fraud. Bashirs supporters cite the

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Dixon, Sheila (1953- )

On January 17, 2007, Sheila Dixon became the first woman mayor of Baltimore, after former Mayor Martin O’Malley was inaugurated as Maryland’s governor. Born on December 17, 1953, Dixon is a lifelong resident of Baltimore having grown up in the Ashburton neighborhood of West Baltimore. Her father

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Death of Jesse Owens, Gold Medalits

Death of Jesse Owens (66), who won four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics, 1936, in Tuscon, Arizona.

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Mar

31

1980

Clarke, Yvette Diane (1964– )

Yvette Diane Clarke won her first political office when she was elected a member of the New York City Council representing part of Brooklyn in 2001. Clarke succeeded her mother, former City Councilmember, Dr. Una S.T. Clarke, making them the first mother-daughter succession in the history of the

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Source: Black Past

Nov

21

1964

Sharpless, Mattie R. (1943- )

On October 1, 2001, President George W. Bush nominated Mattie R. Sharpless to be the next United States Ambassador to the Central African Republic. After confirmation by the U.S. Senate, Sharpless was at her post in the nation’s capital at Bangui by mid-December 2001. Sharpless served in Bangui

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Source: Black Past

Oct

1

2001

Tubman, Harriet Ross (c. 1821-1913)

Dubbed “The Moses of Her People,” escaped slave Harriet Tubman assisted hundreds of slaves on the Underground Railroad, leading them from Maryland to safety in Pennsylvania. Born enslaved and raised in Dorchester County, Maryland to Benjamin and Harriett Greene Ross, Harriett was both

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Source: Black Past

Jun

2

1863

William Levi Dawson

William Levi Dawson is born, first African American representative to chair a committee in Congress.

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Apr

26

1883

Afro-Asian Writers' Conferences (1958-1979)

The Afro–Asian Writers’ Conferences were a series of gatherings of literary figures from Asia and Africa that took place over two decades to denounce imperialism and to establish cultural contacts among their countries. The first conference (and by far the best known) was held in October 1958 in

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Source: Black Past

Rita Dove

Rita Dove is a professor of English at the University of Virginia. She is noted as winning the Pultizer Prize for the volume Thomas and Beulah. Born in 1952, she is still making an impact upon the literary world.

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Jan

0

1952

Elliott, Robert Brown (1842–1884)

Robert Brown Elliott, Reconstruction-era Congressman, was born in 1842 in Liverpool, England. He attended High Holborn Academy in London, England and then studied law, graduating from Eton College in 1859. From there he joined the British Royal Navy. Elliott decided to settle in South Carolina in

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Source: Black Past

Aug

9

1884

Smith, Charles Z. (1927-2016)

On July 18, 1988, Charles Z. Smith became the first African American to serve on the Washington Supreme Court. He was appointed to the court by Washington’s then Governor Booth Gardner and was subsequently elected to his position on the court for a two-year term in 1988. Justice Smith was elected

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Source: Black Past

Smalls, Robert (1839-1915)

Robert Smalls was born in Beaufort, South Carolina, on April 5, 1839 and worked as a house slave until the age of 12. At that point his owner, John K. McKee, sent him to Charleston to work as a waiter, ship rigger, and sailor, with all earnings going to McKee. This arrangement continued until

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Source: Black Past

May

13

1862

Johnson, Jeh (1957 - )

Jeh (pronounced “Jay”) Charles Johnson, a civil and criminal trial lawyer, is the current U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security. Johnson received his B.A. from Morehouse College in 1979 and obtained his J.D. from Columbia University in 1982. Nominated by President Barack Obama in October

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Source: Black Past

Mercer, Mabel Alice Wadham (1900-1984)

Mabel Mercer was one of the most important jazz cabaret singers of the 20th Century. Her personal singing style emphasizing interpretation, diction, lyrics, and projection over vocal proficiency influenced numerous leading singers including Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Nat

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Source: Black Past

Clarke, William D., Sr. (1941--)

Ambassador William Davis Clark was born in 1941. Currently, he is retired and resides with his wife, Katsuko M. Clarke, in Maryland. Clarke has two sons William Clarke Jr. and Robert Clarke, and one daughter, Christina Armstrong. In 1963, Clarke earned his bachelor’s degree at Howard

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Senator Floats D.C. Statehood Bill on Dem-Controlled Hill

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