Formation of the Buffalo Soldiers, 1866

On July 28, 1866, the Thirty-Ninth Congress passed the Act to increase and fix the Military Peace Establishment of the United States; thus the federal government created six all-Colored Army Regiments. The units identified as the 9th and 10th Colored Cavalry Regiments and the 38th, … Read MoreFormation of the Buffalo Soldiers, 1866

Julius Lester (1939-2018)

Scholar and civil rights activist Julius Lester was born January 27, 1939 in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of a Methodist minister. Lester spent much of his childhood in Missouri, where in the 1940s and 1950s he dealt with southern attitudes about race and segregation before and during the Civil Rights movement. In … Read MoreJulius Lester (1939-2018)

Leo Austin Brooks, Sr. (1932- )

Leo A. Brooks Sr. is a retired major general formerly in the United States Army. Brooks was born August 9, 1932 in Alexandria, Virginia to the Reverend Houston G. Brooks and Evelyn Lemon Brooks. His grandparents were of mixed African American and American Indian ancestry. Beginning in 1950 Brooks … Read MoreLeo Austin Brooks, Sr. (1932- )

Black Lives Matter, Seattle Chapter (2014– )

Black Lives Matter Protesters in Seattle June 2020 “Image Ownershp: Erika Schultz/The Seattle Times” 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 2013 acquittal … Read MoreBlack Lives Matter, Seattle Chapter (2014– )

Louis Augustus Carter (1876–1941)

Born on February 20, 1876, in Auburn, Alabama, Louis Augustus Carter was the second African American Army chaplain to be promoted to colonel. Carter received his early education in a local public school, attended Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) from 1895 to 1897, and Selma … Read MoreLouis Augustus Carter (1876–1941)

Black Lives Matter: The Growth of a New Social Justice Movement

In the article below, Syracuse University historian Herbert Ruffin explores the rapid rise of the Black Lives Matter Movement in 2013 as the most recent development in the ongoing struggle for racial and social justice in the United States. In the summer of 2013, three … Read MoreBlack Lives Matter: The Growth of a New Social Justice Movement