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Jesse Owens won the last of his four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin on this day.  Adolf Hitler refused to acknowledge him.

50 People were reported injured following a Race Riot in Jacksonville, FL.  on this day in 1960.  The riots came after 10 days of peaceful sit ins.

Abner Louima was savagely attacked, sexually assaulted and beaten by New York City police Officers on this date in 1997.

Mathew Henson, The first person to reach the North Pole was born on this date in 1866

The African Baptist Church was organized on this day in 1805

 

George W. Marray of

South Carolina was the only Black congressman in the fifty-third Congress, which convened on this date in 1893.

Ralph J Bunche, diplomat and winner of Nobel Peace Prize, born on this date in 1904

Charles H. Mahoney was confirmed by the US Senate as the first Black delegate to the United Nations on this day in 1954

Activist Angela Davis was implicated in a shootout during an attempted escape in a San Rafael, California, courthouse and went into hiding to avoid arrest on this date in 1970,

Davis was acquitted of all charges on June 4, 1972.
 

 The Wake Robin Golf Club of Washington, D. C., was formed on this date in 1936.  This was one of the first all-Black Women Golf Clubs in America.
 

The Voting Rights Bill signed by President Lyndon Johnson on this day in 1965

Famed photographer and director Gordon Parks’ film, ‘The Learning Tree’ opened in theaters on this day in 1969.  This was the first film by a Black director to be released by Hollywood
 

L.P. Ray patented the dust pan on this date in 1897

Archibald T. Carey, Jr was the first Black person appointed Chairman of the President’s Committee on Government Employment Policy on this date in 1957 

The United States Senate overrode President Ronald Reagan’s veto of legislation imposing economic sanctions against South Africa on this date in 1986 (now if they would only do the same thing for Darfur)

This weekend, in Atlanta, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference will celebrate it’s 50th anniversary. Known as an American Civil Rights Organization you will find their origins behind activites like the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 that began after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give her seat up to a white man. 

During its first few years, SCLC activities were focused primarily on education and voter registration. As the name suggest the organization intended to draw its strength from leaders of the Black Church in the South. They were often criticized by younger activists in groups such as Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) who were participating in sit-ins and Freedom Rides. Read the rest of this entry »