Cherokee Bill was an outlaw who committed a series of violent crimes across the Indian Territory of the 19th Century, around what is now known as Oklahoma. Bill’s name grew in infamy after running with a crew of Black Indian outlaws and he was hanged for his crimes at the age of 20. Born February […]
In the late 1800’s, young Black girls and women looking to escape the dearth of opportunities for education and jobs in the south traveled north. In New York, the White Rose Mission was established by a pair of Black women activists who saw a need to subvert the men who often preyed on the new […]
The music world lost another of its bright stars in Leon Ware last Thursday, but the songwriter has left behind one of the richest legacies in the industry. As a songwriter and producer, Ware was behind some of R&B’s biggest hits and lent his pen to many a musical legend. Ware was born on February […]
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is a largely rural area of the state not immediately known for its connection to African-Americans. However, the region boasts of a link to the Black community that stretches back to slavery. The U.P., as it is commonly referred to, is the northern end of the two peninsulas that make […]
The image of a young Ruby Bridges entering the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans made her an icon of the burgeoning civil rights movement. What many don’t know is that later in life, Bridges became an activist after an unfortunate twist of fate led her back to the school that transformed her […]
The overwhelming success of the film Hidden Figures, starring Taraji P. Henson, highlighted three African-American women who were instrumental in propelling the U.S. space program. The state of Arkansas has a hidden figure of its own in Raye Montague, who is the first person to design a U.S. Navy ship using a computer. Montague was […]
On this day in 1978, NASA graduated its first group of Space Shuttle astronauts which signaled a new day for the space program. Among the group of 35, three Black men went on to leave their mark on history as explorers of space. Maj. Frederick D. Gregory of Washington, Col. Guion Bluford of Pennsylvania, and […]
The case of Sipuel v. The Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma laid the early groundwork for other “separate but equal” cases such as the landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling. Ada Louis Sipuel’s racial discrimination case against the school was decided on this day in 1948, making it possible for her […]
Ohio has long been considered a haven for some of the world’s best funk musicians, and now an upcoming venue will be erected in the city of Dayton to honor pioneers of the genre. This March, the city will welcome the opening of the Funk Music Hall Of Fame and Exhibit Center, an effort that […]
General Lloyd W. ‘Fig’ Newton is a retired U.S. Air Force four-star general who made history within the military branch. In 1974, General Newton became the first African-American member of the Air Force’s air demonstration squad, The Thunderbirds. Newton was born December 24, 1942 in Ridgeland, S.C. Newton’s parents enforced education in their home despite never […]
The late Mayme Agnew Clayton was a librarian and historian who founded the Western States Black Research and Education Center, which bills itself as the largest collection of African-American historical items in the world. Dr. Agnew’s collection, which was amassed over four decades, is housed in the Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum in Culver […]
The Baton Rouge lunch counter protests of 1960 were inspired by the Greensboro protests of that same year. A group of Southern University students were expelled from school because of their peaceful protests in support of Greensboro, but their case was overturned on December 11, 1961 with help from the NAACP and President John F. […]
