The Battle of Carrizal was fought between the Buffalo soldiers of the 10th Cavalry of the United States Army and Mexican army troops on June 21st, 1916. The battle nearly resulted in war between Mexico and the U.S., but with US-German relations souring because of … Read MoreBattle of Carrizal (1916)
Lonnie Smith was a well-known dentist in Houston, Texas, an officer in the Houston branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and a civil rights activist. He is best known for his role in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case … Read MoreLonnie E. Smith (1901-1971)
Yosef Ben-Jochannan was an Afrocentric historian whose work is focused mainly on black presence in ancient Egypt. He contends in his writings that the pharaohs came out of the heart of Africa and that the original Jews were from Ethiopia and were black Africans, and … Read MoreYosef Ben-Jochannan (1918-2015)
J. Herman Banning was an aviation pioneer. He was the first black male aviator to be granted a license by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the first black pilot to fly coast to coast across the United States. Banning was born in 1899 in … Read MoreJames Herman Banning (1899-1933)
In a speech before the Scottish Anti-Slavery Society in Glasgow, Scotland on March 26, 1860, Frederick Douglass outlines his views on the American Constitution. I proceed to the discussion. And first a word about the question. Much will be gained at the outset if we … Read More(1860) Frederick Douglass, “The Constitution of the United States: Is It Pro-Slavery or Anti-slavery?”
Pearl L. Stewart, freelance journalist and journalism educator was the first African American woman to lead a major daily newspaper when she was hired in 1992 to head the Oakland Tribune. In 2002 she founded the website Black College Wire (blackcollegewire.org), an online news service … Read MorePearl Stewart (1950- )
On June 7, 1966, New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy became one of the first major American politicians to take a public stand against South African Apartheid when he delivered an address to the National Union of South African Students in New York City. His … Read More(1966) Robert F. Kennedy, “Day of Affirmation Address”
Harold Ford Jr. Image Ownership: Public Domain In 2000 at the National Democratic Convention in Los Angeles where Vice President Al Gore, Jr., won the Democratic Nomination for President, fellow Tennessean, Congressman Harold Ford of Memphis, gave the Keynote Address. That address appears below. Thank … Read More(2000) Harold Ford, “Keynote Address at the Democratic National Convention”
In 1950 Ralph Bunche, a political scientist by training and then an official of the United Nations, became the first African American to win the Nobel Peace Prize. His brief acceptance address delivered on December 10, 1950 in Oslo, Norway appears below. Your Majesty, Your Royal … Read More(1950) Ralph Bunche, “Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech”
On November 27, 1963 just five days after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, newly installed President Lyndon Baines Johnson addresses Congress for the first time. His address appears below. Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, Members of the House, Members of the Senate, … Read More(1963) Lyndon B. Johnson, “Address Before a Joint Session of Congress”
