This Week In Black History (December 28 – January 3)

December 28, 1981 – Boxer Sugar Ray Leonard is named by Sports Illustrated magazine as the Sportsman of the Year, for World Welterweight champion from January 4, 1982. (Photo Courtesy: Sports Illustrated)

December 29, 1907 – Dr. Robert C. Weaver is the first Black member of a presidential cabinet, who was born in Washington, D.C. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed Weaver as administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Administration. In 1966, he became the first African American cabinet secretary under Franklin D. Roosevelt administration to lead the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). (Courtesy Photo)

December 30, 1977 – Aesha Ash was born in Rochester, New York. She began ballet at the School of American Ballet (SAB) and later won the Mae L. Wien Award for Outstanding Promise In 1996. She continued her career at the corps de ballet at New York City Ballet. In 2003, she moved to Switzerland to perform as a soloist in the Béjart Ballet. She started the Swan Dreams Project, a project that encourages African American girls to become ballet dancers. In 2016, she received an award from the National Women’s History Museum for her contribution to the arts. She was Zoe Saldana’s dance double film “Center Stage.” (Photo Courtesy: Paul D. Van Hoy II)

December 31, 1900 – Famed sculptor, Selma Hortense Burke was born in Mooresville, NC. Burke was deemed as one of America’s best known sculptors. One of her most important works was a plaque of President Franklin D. Roosevelt for the Register of Deeds building in Washington, DC in 1945. The plaque resides there today. Courtesy Photo)

January 1, 2000 – Powerhouse Susan L. Taylor behind Essence Magazine, becomes the Publication Director of Essence Communications after being the Editor in Chief. (Photo Courtesy: D Dipasupil/Getty Images)

January 2, 1965 – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. begins a voting registration drive to advocate on voting discrimination against Blacks in Selma, Alabama. (Photo Courtesy: Associated Press)

January 3, 1989 – Late night, variety talk show, “The Arsenio Hall Show” debuted that year. The show made a comeback, premiering on September 9, 2013, however was short-lived. The iconic show was canceled after one season on May 21, 2014. (Courtesy Photo)

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