First Black Presidential Press Secretary
President John F. Kennedy named Andrew T. Hatcher associate press secretary. Hatcher was the first Black to hold this position.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
10
1960
Leopold Sedar Senghor, poet, politician, is elected President of Senegal.
Leopold Sedar Senghor, poet, politician, is elected President of Senegal.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) Boston Metropolitan Chapter
Sep
5
1960
Florence Griffith Joyner, track legend born
Delorez Florence Griffith Joyner
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
21
1959
Spingarn Award: Ken B. Clark
Kenneth B. Clark, psychologist and educator, awarded Spingarn Medal for pioneering studies that influenced the Supreme Court decision on school desegregation.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
15
1961
South Africa rejoined the Commonwealth
South Africa rejoined the Commonwealth after an absence of 33 years.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by NSBE Boston
Jun
1
1994
First Black Appointed To a Presidential Cabinet
Robert Weaver became the first Black appointed to a presidential cabinet when President Lyndon B. Johnson named him to head the newly created Departmentof Housing and Urban Development.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by BARBinc
Jan
13
1966
Marian Anderson and Ralph Bunche
Marian Anderson and Ralph Bunche receive the first Medals of Freedom from President John F. Kennedy, the creator of the award.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association (MBLA)
Jul
4
1963
Executive Order 11246
Executive Order 11246 enforces affirmative action for the first time
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
24
1965
Robert Weaver
Robert Weaver, born on this day, beacme the first Black appointed to a presidential cabinet when President Lyndon B. Johnson named him to head the newly created Departmentof Housing and Urban Development.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
29
1907
Black Ambassador to South Africa
On this date, President Ronald Reagan appointed Edward J. Perkins ambassador to South Africa.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Oct
2
1986
Violette Neatley Anderson
Violette Neatley Anderson is the first African American woman admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
29
1926
Andrew Young resigned under pressure
Andrew Young resigned under pressure as UN ambassador after unauthorized meeting with representatives of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Resignation created a storm of controversy and divided the Black and Jewish communities.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
15
1979
Anti-segregation March
Through 25th Some 180 Black students and a white minister arrested in Columbia, S.C., after anti-segregation march.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Diversity In Action
Mar
2
1961
Ethiopia Invaded by Italy
Ethiopia, one of the only two independent African nations at the time, was invaded on October 3,1935 by Facist Italy under Benito Mussolini. The Italians, seeking revenge for their prior
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by APEX Museum
Oct
3
1935
Arthur Ashe is born
Arthur Ashe, Born July 10, 1943 in
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jul
10
1943
Death of Ralph J. Bunche
Death of Ralph J. Bunche (67), Nobel Peace Prize winner and undersecretary of the UN from 1955 to his retirement in October, 1971, in New York City.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
9
1971
President Carter signed Hawkins-Humphrey full
President Carter signed Hawkins-Humphrey full employment bill.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by BARBinc
Oct
27
1978
leader of the Black Consciousness Movemeent In South Africa Stephen Biko was arr
leader of the Black Consciousness Movemeent In South Africa Stephen Biko was arrested, 1977
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
12
1977
Minister to Liberia
Lester Walton appointed minister to Liberia.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jul
22
1848
Rosa Parks.
On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to change seats on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus. On December 5, blacks began a boycott of the bus system, which continued until shortly after December 13, 1956, when the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed bus segregation in the city.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
1
1955
Civil Rights
April 3, 1944. The US Supreme Court, in an 8-1 ruling declared that Blacks could not be barred form voting in the Texas Democratic primaries. The high court repudiated the contention that political parties are private associations and held that discrimination aginst Blacks violated the 15th
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
3
1944
First all-race elections in South Africa
South Africa held its first all-race elections for the national assembly and provincial parliaments.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
26
1994
Supreme Court ruled in Shelley v
Supreme Court ruled in Shelley v. Kraemer that federal and state courts could not enforce restrictive convenants which barred persons from owning or occupying property because of their race.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
May
3
1948
Sam Cook, Father of Soul Music, born.
Singer Sam Cook, the son of a minister and believed by many to be the first father of soul music, was born in Chicago, Illinois. Cook began his singing career with a gospel group known as the Singing Children. His fame came in 1965 with You and Me, Only 16, and his very famous Stand By Me and
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
22
1931
President George Bush nominated conservative black Clarence Thomas to replace Th
President George Bush nominated conservative black Clarence Thomas to replace Thurgood Marshall.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jul
2
1991
Spingarn Medal : Max Yergan
Spingarn Medal presented to YMCA secretary Max Yergan for his achievements as a missionary in South Africa, representing the gift of cooperation...American Negroes may send back to their Motherland.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Greater Boston Veterans Collaborative
Mar
15
1933
Sharpesville Massacre
Sharpesville Massacre in apartheid South Africa in which white police killed 67 Blacks and wounded 186.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Illinois Math and Science Academy
Mar
21
1960
Donald McHenry named to succeed Andrew Young as UN
Donald McHenry named to succeed Andrew Young as UN ambassador.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
31
1979
More than one hundred delegates from six states
More than one hundred delegates from six states held a Black convention in Philadelphia. John Mercer Langston, one of the first Blacks to win public office, elected clerk of Brownhelm Township, Lorain County, Ohio. In 1856 he was elected clerk of the township of Russia, near Oberlin. In 1857 he was
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Oct
16
1855
Martin Luther King,Jr. Ordained
Martin Luther King ordained as a Baptist minister
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Feb
25
1948

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