Black History
Joe Louis Boxed "Nazi
Favorite" Max Schmeling
Joe Louis wanted redemption, to remain the heavyweight boxing champion of the world and to avenge his sole defeat. Max Schmeling wanted repetition, the chance to regain the title he had lost and to defeat the younger man, just as he had beaten him two years earlier. As the bell rang and they walked to the center of a 20-foot square boxing ring in the middle of New York’s Yankee Stadium, all each man wanted was to have his hand raised in sporting victory.
Cumberland Posey
Cumberland Posey, the only person in the Baseball and Basketball Halls of Fame, was not only an excellent athlete. He also was one of the shrewdest businessmen and talent evaluators in the Negro Leagues, a fierce advocate for Black baseball and a sports pioneer.
The Black Trailblazer Who's the Only Member of the Baseball and Basketball Halls of Fame | HISTORY
Watershed 1969 Harlem
Cultural Festival
The 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival brought over 300,000 people to Harlem’s 20-acre Mount Morris Park from June 29 to August 24, 1969 against a backdrop of enormous political, cultural and social change in the United States. The summer concert series featured huge acts, including B.B. King, Stevie Wonder and Nina Simone. Despite the Harlem event's prominence, it eventually became more or less lost to history—unlike another festival held the same summer near Woodstock, New York.
Why the Watershed 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival Was Overshadowed for 50 Years | HISTORY
Madam C.J. Walker
Black residents along the Mississippi River began to flee the South in the late 19th century, settling North for better opportunities. Among those making the journey was an entrepreneur who would become known as Madam C.J. Walker. Walker not only worked her way to becoming a self-made millionaire, she also became a staunch advocate for Black women.
How Madam C.J. Walker Became a Self-Made Millionaire | HISTORY
Nathan Green
Jack Daniel’s stands as one of the most iconic American brands and most popular spirits in the world. Yet while the whiskey and its eponymous founder have become dominant names in American liquor lore, the person perhaps most responsible for its success—an enslaved man named Nathan “Nearest” Green, who taught Jack Daniel the art of whiskey distillation—went unacknowledged for more than 150 years.
How an Enslaved Man Helped Jack Daniel Develop His Famous Whiskey | HISTORY
Althea Gibson
When Althea Gibson won the Wimbledon Championships on July 6, 1957, and became the first Black athlete to capture tennis’ most illustrious title, she was roundly honored and celebrated
How Althea Gibson Faced Racial Barriers—Even as a Tennis Champion | HISTORY
Juneteenth
Juneteenth (short for “June Nineteenth”) marks the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1865 to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people be freed. The troops’ arrival came a full two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth honors the end to slavery in the United States and is considered the longest-running African American holiday.
Loving v. Virginia
Loving v. Virginia was a Supreme Court case that struck down state laws banning interracial marriage in the United States. The plaintiffs in the case were Richard and Mildred Loving, a white man and Black woman whose marriage was deemed illegal according to Virginia state law. With the help of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Lovings appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled unanimously that so-called “anti-miscegenation” statutes were unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment. The decision is often cited as a watershed moment in the dismantling of “Jim Crow” race laws.
The Red Summer of 1919
This was a series of racially driven riots occurring all over the United States. One of the most well-known riots was known as the "Tulsa Massacre"
www.history.com/news/red-summer-1919-riots-chicago-dc-great-migration
Mary Eliza Mahoney
First black nurse in America
www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/mary-mahoney
Marcus Garvey
He was a Jamaican-born Black nationalist and leader of the Pan-Africanism movement, which sought to unify and connect people of African descent worldwide. In the United States, he was a noted civil rights activist who founded the Negro World newspaper, a shipping company called Black Star Line and the Universal Negro Improvement Association, or UNIA, a fraternal organization of black nationalists.
Latasha Harlins
15 year old black girl killed in Los Angeles by shop owner over a bottle of orange juice. This incident occurred shortly after the Rodney King incident. Even after substantial evidence, Latasha's killer never saw jail time. With multiple incidents like this one occurring in the early 1990's, the last straw was the final verdict in the Rodney King case which sparked the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
Sojourner Truth
She was an African-American abolitionist and women's rights activist who was born into slavery with the name Isabella Baumfree. She became the first black woman in history to successfully sue a white man for a family members freedom from slavery. She had many accomplishments in her lifetime.
“All great achievements require time.”
— Maya Angelou