Category: This Week in Black History

Joe Frazier knocked out Jimmy Ellis in the second round of their fight at Madison Square Garden to become the world heavyweight boxing champion. – […]

Educator W.E. B. DuBois is one of 60-plus activists who form the NAACP to fight for racial equality for Black Americans. As editor of Crisis […]

Former St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Bill White is named president of the National League, becoming the first African American to lead a major sports […]

President Barack Obama signs his first bill as president of the United States. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 revised the statute of limitations for […]

Jefferson High School and UCLA graduate Ralph Bunche, the first African American to win the Nobel Prize for his efforts to establish peace in the […]

“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 […]