As we celebrate life and morn the loss of Nelson Mandela we pause to remember others like Fred Hampton who should not be forgotten. Here is a little known Black History Fact about Fed Hampton. Click here to READ MORE.
What the..? When the..? Where the..? That’s what I said, but its one of those little known Black History facts. Click here to READ MORE
Horace King was an Alabama slave and architect who built the biggest American bridges in the mid 1800’s. His work is still present in the amazing spiraling staircases of the Alabama State Capital. King built a number of massive bridges crossing the Chattahoochee River Valley. Read More
The New Orleans songwriter responsible for the song “Jock-A-Mo,” Mr. James Crawford, has passed away. The R&B singer, who was also known as “Sugar Boy”, wrote the famous Mardi Gras song “Jock-A-Mo” in 1953. The song was re-made by the Dixie Cups as “Iko-Iko” in 1965. Crawford’s song has also been re-made by Cyndi Lauper, […]
Author Claude McKay was a leading black writer in the 1920’s through the 1940’s. His 1922 collection of poetry called “Harlem Shadows” was said to have introduced the Harlem Renaissance. Prior to that, McKay introduced the protest poem “If We Must Die,” in 1919, which was quoted by Winston Churchill. McKay is believed to be […]
A new resolution called H.R. 6336 has been approved by the U.S. House of Representatives. The resolution will bring the Frederick Douglass historical statue to the U.S. Capitol. The statue has been sitting at One Judiciary Square (a government building) for years. The statue of Frederick Douglass will be the third African-American figure to be […]
In Camp Mackall, North Carolina the first all-black parachute Infantry platoon was activated on November 25,1944. They would be called the 555th Battalion, a.k.a. “The Triple Nickles.” They were called the Triple Nickles because 17 of 20 soldiers selected from the Buffalo Soldiers 92nd Infantry in Arizona made it through the test platoon at Fort […]
As the civil rights movement and Brown vs. Board of Education was blatantly being ignored in most of Mississippi, the decision to send a young Chicago boy who needed structure to the South was made by his widowed mother, Mamie Till. Unaware of the depth of racism and Jim Crow in the South, 14-year-old Emmett […]
Claressa Shields just became the first U.S. fighter, and African-American fighter to win an Olympic gold medal in women’s boxing. It was America’s first women’s Olympic boxing event. http://www.blackamericaweb.com/news/little-known-black-history-fact/little-known-black-history-fact-claressa-shields
As of April 2, 2012, the 72-year confidentiality period concluded for the 1940 census. As a result, the U.S. Census Bureau finally disclosed the number of missing African-Americans from the 1940 census, including Wimbledon Tennis champion, Althea Gibson and her entire family. http://www.blackamericaweb.com/?q=articles/news/the_black_diaspora_news/40581
English athlete Viv Anderson, a.k.a. “Spider,” was the first black football player to represent England in a full international match. In 1974, Anderson joined the Nottingham Forest team, helping them advance to first division, then win the European cup in 1979. http://www.blackamericaweb.com/?q=articles/news/the_black_diaspora_news/39837
James Banning was the first African-American male aviator to receive his pilot’s license. Born in 1899, Banning’s family moved to Ames, Oklahoma when he was a young adult. http://www.blackamericaweb.com/?q=articles/news/the_black_diaspora_news/39289
