Facts
1946: Tony Award and Emmy Award winning entertainer and dancer Gregory Hines is born in New York City.
1923: The 1st Black professional basketball team “The Renaissance” is formed. They were collectively inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame in 1963.
1909 – During a “call to action” meeting led by W.E.B DuBois and attended by many other black scholars and activists, the NAACP is founded.
1990 – After 27 years of imprisonment in South Africa, Nelson Mandela is released from jail and subsequently leads the charge to end Apartheid.
After 12 days of debate and voting on 125 amendments, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
1986- Oprah Winfrey becomes the first African American woman to host a nationally syndicated talk show. It remains in production for 24 years.
1927 – University of Chicago and Harvard University Graduate, Carter G. Woodson creates Negro History Week. In 1976 it became Black History Month.
1945-Bob Marley, Jamaican reggae star is born in Nine Miles, Saint Ann, Jamaica. He continues to be an internationally recognized musical icon.
1934: Henry “Home Run King” Aaron, baseball superstar was born in Mobile, Alabama. He held the record for most career Home Runs for 31 years.
Rosa Parks was born on this day in Tuskeegee, AL in 1913. Ms. Parks earned numerous awards for her life-long dedication to social change and justice.
1956: Autherine J. Lucy becomes the first black student to attend the University of Alabama. She was expelled 3 days later “for her own safety.”
Eric Holder is sworn in as the first African-American U.S. Attorney General in 2009.
