June 4
1922—Samuel L. Gravely is born. Gravely became the first African American admiral in the United States Navy and the first African American to command a U.S. warship. The Richmond, Va., native died in 2004 at the age of 82.
1972—College professor and activist Angela Davis is acquitted by a jury of charges that she assisted and conspired with the young men involved in a deadly 1970 shootout at the Marin County courthouse in California. The assault on the courthouse was an attempt to free imprisoned Black activist George Jackson. At least three people were killed during the escape attempt. Davis, a Birmingham, Ala., native who became a member of the Communist Party, spent 16 months in prison but on this day in 1972 she was found not guilty of all charges by an all-White San Jose, Calif., jury.
1973—Arna Bontemps dies at the age of 72 in Nashville, Tenn. Born in Louisiana, Bontemps became one of the key figures in the Black artistic and cultural movement known as the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s. Bontemps was a prolific writer and poet.
June 5
1872—The Republican Party National Convention takes place in Philadelphia with substantial representation from former Black slaves. At least three Blacks addressed the national political gathering. At this point in history, the Republicans were the nation’s most progressive party and attracted the allegiance of African Americans. Blacks would remain loyal to the Republicans until the 1930s. But by 1945 with the Republicans becoming increasingly conservative and attracted to the New Deal programs of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the vast majority of Blacks had switched to the Democrats.
1894—Black inventor G.W. Murray patents a fertilizer distributor, cotton chopper and a seed planter all on this day in 1894.
1945—Track star John Carlos is born in Harlem, N.Y. Carlos and fellow sprinter Tommie Smith created an international sensation when they protested American racism by giving the “Black Power” clinched fist salute when accepting their medals at the 1968 Olympics.
1956—Although the actual decision may have been reached the previous day, a federal district court hands down a ruling declaring that Alabama laws requiring racial segregation in public transportation were unconstitutional. The decision, which was later confirmed by the United States Supreme Court, was the first major legal victory for the Civil Rights Movement. It grew out of the historic Montgomery Bus Boycott sparked when Rosa Parks defied the law and custom by refusing to give up her seat on a public bus to a White man. Although actually organized by Rev. E.D. Nixon, the Boycott would result in Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. becoming the nation’s most prominent civil rights leader.
June 6
1790—Jean Baptist Pointe Du Sable establishes a settlement which would eventually grow into the city of Chicago. The settlement would make the French-speaking, Santo Domingo-born Du Sable a wealthy man.
1958—Singer, musician and composer Prince was born on this day in Minneapolis, Minn. His full name is Prince Rogers Nelson.
1966—Although there is some debate as to who first coined and used the phrase, this is generally recognized as the day in 1966 that Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee President Stokely Carmichael began to popularize the term “Black Power” as a demand for greater African American control over their political and economic destiny in America.
1987—Dr. Mae Jemison is selected by NASA as the first Black woman to begin training as a space shuttle astronaut. Jemison actually become the first African-American woman to travel in space on Sept. 12, 1992 aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor.
June 7
1868—This is generally recognized as the day Marie Laveau retired (or was forced out) as the most powerful Voo Doo priestess in the world. The New Orleans native had become powerful and wealthy catering to the superstitious beliefs of both Blacks and Whites throughout the South. The daughter of a slave and a French plantation owner, Laveau was raised as a Catholic but became intrigued by stories of the city’s first Voo Doo priestess Sanite De De and by 1830 had built her own Voo Doo religious empire. She was replaced by one of her daughters but she would live until 1881 dying at the age of 98.
1917—One of the greatest poets of the 20th century Gwendolyn Brooks is born in Topeka, Kan. Pushed by her mother and father, Brooks began writing poetry at a young age and was even introduced to some of the best known Black poets and writers of the Harlem Renaissance while still a child. She won the coveted Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1950 for a collection entitled “Annie Allen.” She died on Dec. 3, 2000.
1930—Under pressure from early civil rights activists, the New York Times begins using the word “Negro” as the official designation for African Americans. It also agreed to capitalize the “N.” The decision by the Times gradually led to “Negro” becoming the official designation for Blacks nationwide and it would remain so until it was dethroned by “Black” in the 1960s. Positively, the rights advocates were attempting to build greater respect for African Americans but negatively, the selection of “Negro” also reflected a desire not to be referred to as “Blacks.”
1953—Educator and activist Mary Church Terrell wins a legal battle to end segregation in Washington, D.C., restaurants.
June 8
1886—Homer A. Plessy, a light-complexioned Black man, refuses to leave the “White” section of a New Orleans railroad car and move to the “colored” section. His Rosa Parks type refusal sets in motion a legal case, which eventually reached the United States Supreme Court. In its May 1896 ruling, the Court decided against Plessy and thus confirmed the segregationist doctrine of “separate but equal.” The ruling also had the effect of treating anyone with any “Black blood” as Black. The court never actually ruled on Plessy’s claim that he was 7/8 White and only 1/8 Black and thus should not be treated as “colored” under the laws of that day.
1968—James Earl Ray, the man convicted of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is captured at an airport in London using a false Canadian passport. Ray would spend the rest of his life trying to withdraw his guilty plea charging that his brother and a mysterious man he met in Montreal, Canada, named Raoul were actually involved in the killing of King. He claimed he “did not personally shoot Dr. King” but suggested he knew beforehand about the conspiracy to assassinate him. Ray died in prison in April 1998.
1982—One of the greatest athletes to ever play the game of baseball, Satchell Paige, dies in Kansas City, Mo. Paige had played in the old Negro Baseball Leagues and went unrecognized by Major League Baseball and the general public for decades. He was finally voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971.
June 9
1948—Oliver W. Hill becomes the first African American elected to the Richmond, Va., city council. He is best known for his work as a civil rights attorney helping bring down the segregationist doctrine of “separate but equal.” Hill was born in 1907.
1989—One of the “founding fathers” of the Congressional Black Caucus, Michigan Rep. John Conyers issues the first call for a Congressional investigation into paying African Americans reparations for the enslavement of their ancestors.
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