David Bing was a skilled point guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played for the Detroit Pistons, Washington Bullets, and Boston Celtics. He is best remembered for his time with the Pistons from 1966 to 1977. While playing with the Pistons, he claimed the rookie of the year honor in 1966 and led […]
Photo credits: David Fenton/Getty Images On Oct. 15, 1966, the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense was co-founded by civil rights activists Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in Oakland, California. Later known as the Black Panther Party, the paramilitary-style political organization aimed to create social programs for African-Americans; an American ethnic group that has been oppressed by racial discrimination for hundreds […]
Photo credits: The University of Wyoming’s American Heritage Center A historic group called the Wyoming Black Fourteen were the African American members of the 1969 University of Wyoming (UW) football team. They protested playing a game with Brigham Young University (BYU) because of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’s ban on black men holding the priesthood in the […]
In the summer of 1961, as an undergraduate, Helen Singleton became a Freedom Rider along with a group of students from UCLA, and other campuses in Los Angeles. Her husband, Robert Singleton, was one of the organizers of the group. The Freedom Rider movement, which tested discrimination in travel accommodations, was one of several forms […]
Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. –Barack Obama
The Robert Charles Riots began when whites in New Orleans, Louisiana became infuriated after Robert Charles, an African-American, shot several white police officers on July 23, 1900. A manhunt for Charles began after he fled after an altercation with New Orleans police officers. The race riots lasted over four days and claimed 28 casualties, including […]
Thomas Armstrong participated in the Freedom Rides in 1961. Armstrong was born in Silver Creek, Mississippi. He was just 14 in 1955 when young Emmett Till, was kidnapped, tortured, and killed in Mississippi for whistling at a white woman. Three years later, as a student at Tougaloo College, Armstrong got involved in civil rights work. […]
Photo credits: YouTube video screenshot by Paul Rickbeil Henry Blair (pictured) was an African-American inventor who thrived in the 19th century. In 1834, Blair became only the second black man to receive a United States patent for his mechanical corn planter. For years, Blair was believed to be the first African American to receive a patent. […]
Photo credits: Alex Wong for Getty Images In a speech he made on October 14, 1982, President Ronald Reagan announced plans to create 12 new drug task force units. He vowed the government would hire 1,200 additional prosecutors, at an estimated cost of $200 million annually. This implemented action plan by Reagan would go on […]
Dr. Clarence Greene became the first African-American certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery on October 22, 1953. He was highly respected for his work and involvement in several medical organizations. Clarence Sumner Greene was born on December 26, 1901, in Washington, D.C. He graduated from Dunbar High School in 1920 and shortly after, pursued a career […]
In a video posted on The Black History School, we learn more about We have all heard Trump’s racists rants, and we know why Hillary doesn’t deserve the Black vote. But sadly, this is nothing new. Every President in American history has directly or indirectly prevented the progress of Black people. George Washington claimed he […]
Marriane Mayfield was a singer and bassist. She was beloved in the Portland jazz scene for decades. Her performances drew diverse crowds, and she played many jazz and blues festivals. Beginning in the late 1970s, Mayfield led her own groups in Portland nightclubs that included Parchman Farm, the Prima Donna, the Jazz Quarry, and the […]
