Black NFL Pioneers
Notable figures in Black NFL history
Notable figures in Black NFL history
Scholar, minister and activist the Rev. Dr. Bernard LaFayette Jr. was the guest speaker at L.A.’s Skirball Cultural Center’s “Perspectives on Black-Jewish Relations in The Fight for Civil Rights” discussion held Dec. 6, on the 68th anniversary of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Hattie McDaniel’s best supporting actress Oscar in 1939 for “Gone With the Wind” is one of the most important moments in Academy Award history.
The Tulsa Race Massacre was an eighteen-hour ordeal occurring from May 31 through June 1, 1921. The mostly Black neighborhood of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma was attacked by a white mob, destroying homes and businesses. Between 150 and 300 people lost their lives in one of the most heinous acts of racial violence in United States history.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, facing heavy criticism for defending “anti-woke” teaching in Florida, this week teed up an unusual proposal to the nation’s first Black vice president: Come debate the merits of the state’s new curriculum on African American history.
The California Hawaii State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (CA/HI NAACP) held its 11th annual Legacy Hall of Fame induction ceremony. The event took place on June 24 at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Sacramento.
“At your Service: A Legacy of Firsts” is the 16th installation in the African American Heritage Month exhibit series and the first AAHM exhibit on display in City Hall since the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic shutdown.
The Black Women Legends Awards will be presented to five accomplished African Americans at the “Power, Leadership and Influence of the Black Woman” luncheon on April 15. The achievements of the recipients are equaled by the attainments of the women for whom the Black Women Legends Awards are named – described as trailblazers who broke down barriers.
Maggie Lena Walker (1864-1934) – Maggie Lena Walker was the first Black woman to charter a bank in the U.S., opening St. Luke Penny Savings Bank, where she served as president. After having three sons, she went to work part time as an agent for an insurance company, the Women’s Union, while attending night school for bookkeeping. She also volunteered at St. Luke and eventually worked her way up in 1889, to become the executive secretary-treasurer of the renamed organization, the Independent Order of St. Luke. Walker started publishing the St. Luke Herald in 1902 to publicize and promote the
Black Americans make up 12% of the country’s population, but less than 6% are appointed as chief executive officers (CEO). In November of 2022, CNBC announced that only 5.9% of all CEO’s in the United States are African American. Within those small percentages, Rosalind Brewer and Thasunda Brown Duckett are the only two Black women who have lead Fortune 500 companies.
Martin Luther King, Jr. made frequent visits to Los Angeles. Many of his visits in the late 1950s to 1960s consisted of private fundraisers, places of worship, educational institutions and conferences.
In his final march, standing shoulder to shoulder with the striking sanitation workers of Memphis, TN, in April 1968, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., believed their concerns were our concerns. This concern extended to all who lived in poverty in America. It was the richness and vast resources of the wealth of our nation that was not used to “school the unschooled and feed the unfed” that drew his ire.
The nation approaches an anniversary of a vision, manifested by world renown activist, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., on Aug. 28, 1963, King verbalized the need for America to “live out the true meaning of its creed.”
After a protracted legal process that led to the historic return of pristine Manhattan Beach coastal property to a Black family that had the land stripped away nearly a century ago, the family has decided to sell the parcel back to the county for $20 million, the county confirmed today.
There is a period during the holiday season dedicated to African Americans; Kwanzaa—defined as “first” in Swahili— is known among all ethnicities. Highlighting African heritage, Kwanzaa carries the salt of a culture unearthed and conditioned, allowing new thoughts of deep reflection on the origins of the collective community.