This Week In Black History (July 27th – August 2nd)

July 27, 1972 – Maya Rudolph was born Gainesville, Florida to soul singer, Minnie Riperton, famous for 70’s classics “Lovin’ You,” “Inside My Love” and “Memory Lane” and musician and producer, Richard Rudolph. She is a comedian and actress who got her start on Saturday Night Live in the early 2000’s performing Beyoncé impersonations. Riperton has starred in “Bridemaids,” “Grownups,” “50 First Dates” and “Maya & Marty.” (Photo Courtesy: Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

July 28, 1917 – Repulsed by the injustice and oppression of racism, thousands of Blacks marched down Fifth Avenue in silence to protest racial inequality and white supremacy and lynching’s in Harlem. (Photo Courtesy: Library of Congress/The Conversation)

July 29, 1895 – The First National Convention of Black Women held in Boston, Massachusetts was organized by Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin. She was a civil rights activist, suffragist and editor of The Woman’s Era, the first newspaper published by and for African American women.

July 30, 2002 – Lisa Leslie is the first woman to slam dunk in a professional game. The former Sparks-WNBA player is a three-time WNBA MVP and four-time Olympic gold medal winner.

July 31, 1960 – Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam, called for creation of a Black state in America at a New York meeting.

August 1, 1879 – Mary Eliza Mahoney was the first African American to work as a nurse in the United States, graduating from a nursing school at the New England Hospital for Women and Children.

August 2, 1924 – Writer and social, political activist James Baldwin was born in Harlem, New York. Baldwin was groundbreaking, exploring race and social issues in many of his works. He examined the Black experience in America with literary: “Notes of a Native Son,” “Nobody Knows My Name: More Notes of a Native Son,” “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” “Giovanni’s Room” and much more. Baldwin used his platform as writer to advocate on race relations during the Civil Rights Movement.

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