This Week In Black History (July 20th – July 26th)
July 20, 1967 – More than one thousand people attended the first Black Power Conference in Newark, New Jersey. (Dr. Maulana Karenga pictured sitting in the front to the left) (Photo Courtesy: The Encyclopedia of African American Heritage by Susan Altman)
July 21, 1864 – The New Orleans Tribune was the first daily Black newspaper to be published in English and French. Paul Trevigne Sr. was the associate editor.
July 22, 1961 – R&B and Soul singer, Keith Sweat was born Harlem, New York City. Sweat is a songwriter, record producer, radio personality and an innovator of the New Jack Swing.
July 23, 1984 – On this day, Vanessa Williams relinquishes her Miss America crown. She was replaced by Suzette Charles, the first runner-up.
(Photo Courtesy: Herb Ball/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank)
July 24, 1802 – Alexandre Dumas is born in Villiers-Cotterets, France to a Haitian mulatto, Thomas Alexandre Dumas and Marie Labouret Dumas, a French woman. He is the author to French classics “The Three Musketeers,” “The Count of Monte Cristo, “The Man in the Iron Mask” and “The Corsican Brothers.”
July 25, 1972 – The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment in Macon County, Alabama conducted a clinical study using African American men to experiment with untreated syphilis (“Bad Blood”) from 1932 to 1972 by the U.S. Public Health Service was admitted to by U.S. government.
July 26,1980 – Allen Hoskins passed away on this day at age 59 of cancer. He was a child actor most famous for portraying the character of Farina in 105 “Our Gang” short films from 1922-1931.
