Category: This Week in Black History

“Sanford and Son” debuts as a TV sitcom set in Watts, starring Redd Foxx and featuring mostly Black actors. The show, which emphasized a strong […]

After having been kidnapped and sold into slavery in the American South, Solomon Northup regained his freedom. His memoir, “Twelve Years a Slave,” later became a […]

The Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Abraham Lincoln as the country entered the third year of the Civil War. It declared that “all persons […]

Black historian Maulana Ron Karenga introduces Kwanzaa, a non-religious holiday designed to celebrate African and African-American culture. The holiday honors seven core principles of African […]

Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to move to the back of a bus and give her seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama. […]

Andrew Jackson Beard, an African American farmer and inventor, was issued a patent for the automatic railroad car coupler. Born a slave, Beard was inducted […]

The film “Malcolm X,” directed by Spike Lee (pictured) and starring Denzel Washington and Angela Bassett, is released in the United States. The film about […]

Donna Summer’s “MacArthur Park” reaches the top of the Billboard Hot 100, making it her first number one pop hit. Written by Jimmy Webb, the songwriter […]

Augustus Freeman Hawkins of Los Angeles is elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, becoming the first Black member of Congress from west of the […]