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Parks, Gordon (1912-2006)
On November 30, 1912, in Fort Scott, Kansas, Sarah and Andrew Parks welcomed their fifteenth child, Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks, into their home. Though struggling against poverty and racism in Fort Scott, young Gordon was nurtured there. His mother was especially influential, and her
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Prospanica Boston Professional Chapter
(2015) President Barack Obama's Eulogy for Rev. Clementa Pinckney
VIDEO OF SPEECH
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Source: Black Past
Sammy Davis Jr.
Samuel George “Sammy” Davis, Jr. simply known as Sammy Davis Jr., was an acclaimed American entertainer of the 20th century. Born in Harlem, New York on December 8, 1925, Davis spent the better half of his life enjoying the rare skill of making other people happy. While he was primarily
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Source: Black History Resources
Sponsored by Center for Critical Race and Digital Studies
Jackson-Lee, Sheila (1950 - )
Sheila Jackson-Lee was born on January 12, 1950 in Queens, New York.   She graduated from Jamaica High School in Queens, New York in 1968.  She then graduated from Yale University in Connecticut with a B.A. in political science in 1972 followed in 1975 by a J.D. from the University of Virginia Law
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Source: Black Past
Jan
12
1950
Negritude Movement
The literary movement, Negritude, was born out of the Paris intellectual environment of 1930s and 1940s. It is a product of black writers joining together through the French language to assert their cultural
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Source: Black Past
(1826) John B. Russwurm, “The Condition and Prospects of Haiti”
Antebellum African Americans took enormous pride in Haiti. The nation of the enslaved rose in rebellion in 1791 and on January 1, 1804 won its independence from France. At that moment the Republic of Haiti was born as the first black republic in the world, the first independent country in Latin
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Illinois Math and Science Academy
Zephaniah, Benjamin (1958 - )
Benjamin Zephaniah, poet, playwright, novelist and activist, was born on April 15, 1958, the first of eight children, in Birmingham, England. Zephaniah grew up in Wandsworth until the age of nine when his mother, a Jamaican nurse, fled his father, a postman from Barbados. Leaving behind his twin
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Source: Black Past
Apr
15
1958
Northwest Enterprise (1920-1954?)
Founded in 1920, The Northwest Enterprise served an important role in supporting and maintaining an emerging African American community in Seattle, Washington and throughout the Northwest.  The newspaper served its community in five specific ways:  visibility, success, support of black
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Source: Black Past
Simpson, Georgiana (1866-1944)
Georgiana R. Simpson was the second black women to be awarded a Ph.D. in the United States. She received her degree in German from the University of Chicago in 1921, the same year that Sadie Tanner Mossell became the first black woman to be awarded the degree (from the University of
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Source: Black Past
Oscar Robertson
Oscar Palmer Robertson is a retired professional basketball player. He was born on November 24, 1938 in Charlotte, Tennessee. He lived in a segregated housing project and attended a segregated high school called Crispus Attucks High School. He learned to play basketball at a very young age. His
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Source: Black History Resources
Nov
24
1938
“Going South: William Fontaine’s Trip to Virginia, 1948”
In the following article drawn from his book, Black Philosopher, White Academy: The Career of William Fontaine, University of Pennsylvania historian Bruce Kuklick introduces us to the world of  philosopher William Fontaine, one of the few African American faculty members at an Ivy League
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by NSBE Boston
(1864) Rev. J. P. Campbell, “Give Us Equal Pay and We Will Go To War”
As African Americans entered the Union Army in early 1863, they quickly found that racial discrimination followed them. The pay differential was one of the most egregious Federal discriminatory policies. African American soldiers were paid $10 per month, $3 of which was deducted for clothing, while
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Source: Black Past
Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996)
Constitution of the Republic of South Africa
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Concerned Black Men of Massachusetts
Paul Robeson and Japanese Americans, 1942-1949
One hero and friend of Japanese Americans, both individuals and the community generally, was Paul Robeson. Robeson was (after Joe Louis) the most popular and visible African American of the 1930s and 1940s. He was a celebrated stage actor and movie star, an internationally famous folk
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Source: Black Past
Civil Rights Timeline
The Supreme Court rules on the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kans., unanimously agreeing that segregation in public schools is unconstitutional. The ruling paves the way for large-scale desegregation. The decision overturns the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling that sanctioned
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Source: Fact Monster - Black History
A Quena woman was shown in Europe as a circus
A Quena woman was shown in Europe as a circus
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
1815
Ailey, Alvin (1931-1989)
Alvin Ailey was born in Rodgers, Texas during the Great Depression. He overcame racism, poverty, and homophobia to become one of the most celebrated choreographers in American history. His single teenage mother Lula Ailey washed clothes, picked cotton, and worked in domestic service in various
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Source: Black Past
Nicomedes Santa Cruz: A Black Public Intellectual in Twentieth-Century Peru
In the following article University of Oregon historian Carlos Aguirre describes the self-taught poet, writer, and folklorist Nicomedes Santa Cruz, one of the understudied black intellectual leaders in Peru and Latin
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Source: Black Past
Feb
5
1992
Alioune Diop (1910-1980)
Alioune Diop was the first black francophone publisher and a major figure in the African intellectual movement of the mid-twentieth century. Diop was born in 1910, in Saint-Louis, Senegal, the first son of ten siblings in a Wolof family. His earliest education was in a Koranic school, but he later
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Diversity In Action
(1837) Theodore S. Wright, “Prejudice Against the Colored Man”
Rev. Theodore S. Wright, (1797-1847) was born to free parents in Providence, Rhode Island. By the 1830s Wright was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in New York City and a conductor on the Underground Railroad. Wright, a dedicated abolitionist, attended the New York State Anti-Slavery Society
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Source: Black Past
Crossing Boundaries of Race, Crossing Boundaries of Love
In the following article, Dr. Gary B. Nash, Director, National Center for History in the Schools and Professor Emeritus of History at the University of California, Los Angeles, describes his new book, Forbidden Love: The Hidden History of Mixed-Race America.  His book provides a counter narrative
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Source: Black Past
Baker, Josephine (1906-1975)
In 1925 Josephine Baker took Paris, France by storm, appearing on stage in “La Revue Negre” wearing nothing but a skirt of artificial bananas in Danse Sauvage.  Born Josephine Freda MacDonald in St. Louis, Missouri on June 3, 1906, she was nicknamed “Tumpy” because she was
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by APEX Museum
D.W. Griffith
Name at birth: David Wark Griffith
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Source: Fact Monster - Black History
(1964), Dr. Martin Luther King, “Receiving the Nobel Peace Prize”
On December 10, 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King became only the second African American (after Ralph Bunche) to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.  His acceptance speech appears
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Prospanica Boston Professional Chapter
Dec
10
1964
Bell Hooks
Bell Hooks is a pen name of a renowned African-American author, Gloria Jean Watkins. She also took part in social activism and supports feminism. The central focus of her writing is interconnectivity of race, capitalism, and gender. She also explains the influence of these elements to promote
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Source: Black History Resources
Sponsored by Christo Rey New York High School
Sep
25
1952
(1968) Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co.
No. 645 Argued: April 1-2, 1968 --- Decided: June 17, 1968
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Source: Black Past
Jun
17
1968
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali was one of the greatest boxers of all time. He was born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. on January 17, 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky. Ali was a fiercely serious child, who had experienced the harsh realities of racism at a very young age. He started training to be a boxer at the age of 12
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Source: Black History Resources
Jan
17
1942
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) Seattle Chapter (1961-1970)
The Seattle chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) emerged as one of the most significant grass roots organizations in the fight for civil rights in the Pacific Northwest.  Established in 1961, the Seattle chapter embodied the non-violent principles of the national organization which had
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Source: Black Past
Afro-Uruguay: A Brief History
In the following account University of Pittsburgh historian George Reid Andrews provides an introduction to the history of the population of African ancestry in
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Source: Black Past
Race, Family, and Real Estate: Beryl Satter's Family Properties
In her new book, Family Properties: Race, Real Estate, and the Exploitation of Black Urban America, historian Beryl Satter puts a human face on the often told story of racial discrimination in urban housing by following the career of her father, Chicago attorney Mark J. Satter, who was both an
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Source: Black Past
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