Little Known Black History Fact
Black Music Magazine is the first major magazine of the UK showcasing Reggae music artists. The first issue was established in December 1973 and featured Stevie Wonder on the cover. Taking a deeper approach to the Reggae genre, Black Music Magazine was a combination of its predecessors, Blues and Soul and Black Echoes, which mostly […]
Composer Scott Joplin is known historically as the father of the “Ragtime” sound that led the late 1800’s. His famous song called “The Entertainer” was a highlight of the movie “The Sting.” But Scott Joplin wasn’t just about a hit music genre. He used his expertise to fight for the education of African-Americans. Though ragtime […]
Grammy award winning singer Koko Taylor, A.K.A. the “Queen of the Blues,” was known primarily for her rough and powerful vocals and traditional blues style. The Shelby County Tennessee native left her Memphis Roots in 1952 to move to Chicago with her husband Robert “Pops” Taylor and worked as a house cleaner. Taylor sat in […]
Commander Wesley Brown became the first black Naval Academy graduate on June 3, 1949. Brown, who served in WWII, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, was admitted to the Naval Academy with five other black candidates in 1945. The Howard University Graduate attended Annapolis alongside President Jimmy Carter, who was his friend and colleague […]
The Tuskegee Syphilis study was one of the most notorious biomedical experiments in U.S. history. In 1972, forty years ago, Jean Heller of the Washington Evening Star wrote in front page news “Syphilis Patients Died Untreated” making the forty-year experiment public knowledge and bringing shame to public health for the conspiracy. 600 poor black male […]
In 1968, Director George Romero sought out a cast for his newest horror movie called “Night of the Living Dead.” Unlike his other films, Romero wanted to include an African-American hero. The chosen actor to fight the zombies was Duane Jones. In his role as Ben, Jones became the first African-American to be cast as […]
Hear the Little Known Black History Fact :Chuck Brown Chuck Brown, who styled a unique mix of funk, soul and Latin party sounds to create go-go music in the nation’s capital, has died after suffering from pneumonia. He was 75. Brown, widely acclaimed as the “Godfather of go-go” for his pioneering sound, died Wednesday at Johns […]
The Mount Auburn Cemetery is Baltimore’s oldest black cemetery, and one of the oldest black cemeteries in the country, holding over 55,000 families. Dating back to 1872, the cemetery was the known resting place of Joseph Gans, the first lightweight boxing champ, civil rights activist Carl Murphy and John Henry Murphy, the founder of the […]
In 1992, Dr. Leroy Walker became the first black president of the U.S. Olympic Committee. At the time, he was 74 years old. Walker led the U.S. Olympic Committee from 1992 to 1996. Born in Atlanta, Walker was the youngest of 13 children. His father died when he was nine years old and Walker was […]
On April 26th at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan, a black collector of antiques named David Pilgrim will open the first Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia. Pilgrim, a sociology Professor at Ferris, has spent decades collecting racist memorabilia and will now present thousands of pieces of historical artifacts in one museum. Visitors […]
Wendell Scott became the first African-American to obtain a NASCAR racing license in 1953. Now, decades after making history, Wendell Scott is the first black racecar driver on the ballot for the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Scott will be on the 2013 ballot and fans can vote for him onNASCAR.com. Wendell Scott was the first […]
