Inspired by the Black Power movement in the U.S., the Nigerian playwright, Obi Egbuna, founded the British Black Panthers (BBP) in 1968 in London’s Notting Hill. In Britain, people of Caribbean, African, or South Asian descent, who were mainly immigrants from former British colonies, were considered to be “black.” The tripling of Britain’s black population from … Read MoreBritish Black Panther Party (1968-1973)
Robert James Hutton, also known as Bobby or Lil’ Bobby, was the first treasurer and recruit of the Black Panther Party(BPP) at just 16 years old. He was also the first member of the Party killed by the police. Hutton was born in Jefferson County, Arkansas, to John D. … Read MoreBobby Hutton (1950-1968)
Black Lives Matter Protesters at Bernie Sanders Rally, Seattle, August 8, 2015 “Image Ownershp: Public Domain” Black Lives Matter was created by three community organizers—Alicia Garza in Oakland, California; Patrice Cullors in Los Angeles, California; and Opal Tometi in Phoenix, Arizona—as a response to the … Read MoreBlack Lives Matter, Seattle Chapter (2014– )
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Prominent Virginia journalist Ray Boone Sr. was born February 2, 1938, in Suffolk, Virginia. His parents, foreign-born Japanese father, Tsujiro Miyanski, and mother, Leathia M. Boone, of mixed African and Native American descent, were banned from marrying in Virginia because of … Read MoreRaymond Harold/ “Ray” Boone Sr. (1938–2014)
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” In the article below, Syracuse University historian Herbert Ruffin explores the rapid rise of the Black Lives Matter Movement as the most recent development in the ongoing struggle for racial and social justice in the United States. In the summer of … Read MoreBlack Lives Matter: The Growth of a New Social Justice Movement
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Historians rarely compare the mostly working-class and poor Korean population in Japan and African Americans seeking economic justice in the United States. Japanese scholar Kazuyo Tsuchiya of Kanagawa University takes on that task in her new book, Reinventing Citizenship: Black Los … Read MoreThe TransPacific Struggle over Citizenship: Seeking Welfare Rights in Kawasaki City, Japan and Los Angeles, California,1962-1982
The S.S. Yarmouth, Black Star Line, New York City, 1923 “Image Ownership: Public Domain” The Black Star Line (BSL) was a steamship corporation established in 1919 by Pan-Africanist Marcus Garvey, the leader of the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). The name, inspired by a British … Read MoreBlack Star Line (1919-1923)
Image Ownership: Public Domain Actor Samuel Leroy Jackson was born on December 21, 1948 in Washington, D.C. to factory worker Elizabeth Jackson. His father abandoned his mother shortly after Jackson’s birth and then died of alcoholism. Jackson and his mother moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where … Read MoreSamuel L. Jackson (1948- )
The Combahee River Collective, founded by black feminists and lesbians in Boston, Massachusetts in 1974, was best known for its Combahee River Collective Statement. This document was one of the earliest explorations of the intersection of multiple oppressions, including racism and heterosexism. For the first … Read MoreCombahee River Collective (1974-1980)
Image Ownership: Public Domain Elmer “Geronimo” Pratt was a high ranking Black Panther Party (BPP) leader in Los Angeles who was targeted by the United States federal government’s domestic surveillance COINTELPRO program. He was accused and convicted of a murder and spent twenty-seven years in … Read MoreGeronimo Pratt (1947-2011)