Celebrating The Black History Of Memorial Day
While some Memorial Day traditions center on cookouts, we can't forget the very real Black history behind the holiday.
Memorial Day has long been known as a holiday to celebrate and honor America’s ...
Posted Tuesday, May 30th 2023 at 10:40AM
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Countee Cullen (born Countee LeRoy Porter; May 30, 1903 – January 9, 1946) was an American poet, novelist, children's writer, and playwright, particularly well known during the Harlem Renaissance.
Childhood
Countee LeRoy Porter was born on May ...
Posted Tuesday, May 30th 2023 at 9:57AM
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This Day in Black History: May 29, 1851
Abolitionist and women’s rights activist Sojourner Truth delivered her “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio.
On May 29, 1851, abolitionist and women’s rights acti ...
Posted Monday, May 29th 2023 at 4:50PM
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Just as the season for honorary degrees and graduation ceremonies is winding down, Vice President Kamala Harris made history—once again—at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point May 27. Madam Vice President became the first woman to deliver a comm ...
Posted Monday, May 29th 2023 at 4:35PM
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President Joe Biden and Barack Obama honor America's fallen soldiers on Memorial Day
Cierra Jones
Today (May 29) is when millions of Americans honor military members who died serving the country.
In 1971, an act of Congress declared Memorial D ...
Posted Monday, May 29th 2023 at 4:29PM
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Black people may have started Memorial Day. Whites erased it from history.
On May 1, 1865, thousands of newly freed Black people gathered in Charleston, S.C., for what may have been the nation’s first Memorial Day celebration. Attendees held a p ...
Posted Monday, May 29th 2023 at 4:06PM
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Gladys Knight & the Pips were an American R&B, soul and funk family music group from Atlanta, Georgia, that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for over three decades starting from the early 1950s.
Starting out as simply T ...
Posted Sunday, May 28th 2023 at 10:03AM
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Jody-Anne Maxwell
(born 1986) is from Kingston, Jamaica and was the winner of the 1998 Scripps National Spelling Bee at the age of 12. She made history as the first non-American to win the competition.
According to Ebony magazine, Maxwell, who ...
Posted Sunday, May 28th 2023 at 9:51AM
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This Day in Black History: May 28, 1863
The 54th Massachusetts Infantry, the most famous African-American regiment, leaves Boston for combat in the South on May 28, 1863.
The most notable African-American regiment of the Civil War, the 54th Mas ...
Posted Sunday, May 28th 2023 at 9:43AM
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This Day in Black History: May 27, 1958
Ernest Green of the "Little Rock Nine" became the first Black graduate of the newly desegregated Central High School in Pulaski County of Little Rock, Arkansas, on May 27, 1958.
Ernest Gideon Green became ...
Posted Saturday, May 27th 2023 at 4:17PM
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On the evening of May 25, 2020, white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kills George Floyd, a Black man, by kneeling on his neck for almost 10 minutes. The death, recorded by bystanders, touched off what is possibly the largest protest movem ...
Posted Thursday, May 25th 2023 at 5:36PM
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Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musical di ...
Posted Thursday, May 25th 2023 at 2:27PM
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Bill Robinson, nicknamed Bojangles (born Luther Robinson; May 25, 1878 – November 25, 1949), was an American tap dancer, actor, and singer, the best known and the most highly paid African-American entertainer in the United States during the first hal ...
Posted Thursday, May 25th 2023 at 1:46PM
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Tina Turner, known as "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll," has died at 83 years old. NPR's Eric Deggans highlights the iconic performer's life and career.
Tina Turner, the exuberant, heel-stomping, wild-haired rock goddess who sold out stadiums, earned a ...
Posted Wednesday, May 24th 2023 at 4:15PM
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Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington", the recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and several other honors, died on May 24, 1974, in New York City. His last words were, "Music is how I live, why I live and ...
Posted Wednesday, May 24th 2023 at 3:45PM
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Dwight Arrington Myers (May 24, 1967 – November 8, 2011), known professionally as Heavy D, was a Jamaican-born American rapper, record producer, and actor. Myers was the leader of Heavy D & the Boyz, a group that included dancers/hype men G-Whiz (G ...
Posted Wednesday, May 24th 2023 at 12:20PM
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Patricia Louise Holt (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer and actress. She has been referred to as the "Godmother of Soul".
She began her career in the early 1960s as lead singer and frontwoman of t ...
Posted Wednesday, May 24th 2023 at 12:03PM
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Coleman Alexander Young (May 24, 1918 – November 29, 1997) was an American politician who served as mayor of Detroit, Michigan, from 1974 to 1994. Young was the first African-American mayor of Detroit.
Young had emerged from the far-left element i ...
Posted Wednesday, May 24th 2023 at 11:57AM
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On this day in history, May 23, 1900, Sgt. William H. Carney receives Medal of Honor
First African American to receive the honor, Carney protected Old Glory during the Civil War
Sgt. William H. Carney was the first African American to be awarde ...
Posted Tuesday, May 23rd 2023 at 2:01PM
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Marvelous Marvin Hagler (born Marvin Nathaniel Hagler; May 23, 1954 – March 13, 2021) was an American professional boxer and film actor. He competed in boxing from 1973 to 1987 and reigned as the undisputed champion of the middleweight division fro ...
Posted Tuesday, May 23rd 2023 at 1:53PM
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This Day in Black History: May 23, 1975
Jackie “Moms” Mabley, pioneer stand-up comedienne, died on May 23, 1975.
Jackie “Moms” Mabley was a trail-blazing stand-up comic, achieving great professional and commercial success in an age where there we ...
Posted Tuesday, May 23rd 2023 at 8:34AM
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Sun, 05.22.1966
The First Black Wins Emmy Award for Best Actor
William Henry Cosby Jr. (/ˈkɒzbi/ KOZ-bee; born July 12, 1937) is an American comedian, actor, and media personality. He has made significant contributions to American and A ...
Posted Monday, May 22nd 2023 at 3:44PM
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Paul Edward Winfield (May 22, 1939 – March 7, 2004) was an American stage, film and television actor. He was known for his portrayal of a Louisiana sharecropper who struggles to support his family during the Great Depression in the landmark film So ...
Posted Monday, May 22nd 2023 at 8:13AM
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This Day in Black History: May 22, 1967
Poet, playwright and columnist Langston Hughes died in New York City.
Poet, playwright and columnist Langston Hughes died of complications resulting from prostate cancer on May 22, 1967, in New York City. H ...
Posted Monday, May 22nd 2023 at 7:47AM
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Bernard Shaw (May 22, 1940 – September 7, 2022) was an American journalist and lead news anchor for CNN from 1980 until his retirement on March 2, 2001. Prior to his time at CNN, he was a reporter and anchor for WNUS, Westinghouse Broadcasting, CBS N ...
Posted Monday, May 22nd 2023 at 7:40AM
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