Know Your History!
Up to the early 20th century, most American knowledge of Black history was limited to the African-American struggle through slavery and emancipation. The significance of Black history is recognition of the advancements and accomplishments of a group of people once defined by the Constitution as three-fifths of a person. While slavery in America hosts the background of Black history, the African-American impact on history reaches beyond the country’s early history, as African-Americans have made significant contributions.
African-American Facts for Week of: March 21, 2015
March 21, 1492
Alonzo Pietro
Alonzo Pietro, explorer, sets sail with Christopher Columbus.
March 23, 1968
1st Non-voting Congressional Delegate
Rev. Walter Fauntroy, a former aide of Martin Luther King Jr., became the first nonvoting congressional delegate from the District of Columbia since the Reconstruction period.
March 23, 1916
Marcus Garvey arrives in US from Jamaica
Marcus Mosiah Garvey arrives in America from Jamaica.
March 24, 1912
Dorothy Height Born
Birthday of Dorothy Irene Height in Richmond, Virginia. Height, president of the National Council of Negro Women for more than three decades, organized a successful drive to place a statue of Mary McLeod Bethune in a District of Columbia park. Once erected, the statue became the first of an African American in a public park in Washington, D.C.
March 25, 1965
Selma March completed
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. along with other notable civil rights leaders and thousands of supporters reach Montgomery Alabama after marching 4 days from Selma.
The three Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965 were part of the Voting Rights Movement underway in Selma, Alabama. By highlighting racial injustice in the South, they contributed to passage that year of the Voting Rights Act, a landmark federal achievement of the 1960s American Civil Rights Movement. Activists publicized the three protest marches to walk the 54-mile (87 km) highway from Selma to the Alabama state capital of Montgomery as showing the desire of African-American citizens to exercise their constitutional right to vote, in defiance of segregationist repression.
March 26, 1872
Thomas J. Martin is awarded a patent
Thomas J. Martin is awarded a patent for the fire extinguisher.
March 27, 1969
Black Academy
Black Academy of Arts and Letters founded at Boston meeting.
March 28, 1968
Interruption of Protest March
Race riot in Memphis, Tenn. interrupted protest march led by Martin Luther King Jr. in support of striking sanitation workers. National Guard called up.
About Annette:
Being familiar with past events gives us the ability not only to learn from past mistakes but also from the successes.
To me, the omission of any group from history teachings results in a limited understanding of history’s relationship with the present and future. Know your history.
Comments, I can be reached at:
Twitter: @Annette92J
