Today in Black History: February 18 1867 the Augusta Theological Institute was founded which will later become Morehouse
Founded in 1867 in the basement of Springfield Baptist Church in Augusta, Ga., by the Rev. William Jefferson White, with the encouragement of former slave the Rev. Richard C. Coulter and the Rev. Edmund Turney of the National Theological Institute, Morehouse College has had a 150-year legacy of producing educated men and global leaders.
Malcolm X May 20, 1962 Speech on Police Brutality in Los Angeles, California
I want to thank Allah for coming and giving to us our leader and teacher here in America, The Honorable Elijah Muhammad.
I want to thank Brother Benjamin at the outset for doing a wonderful job of opening up our eyes and giving us a good preliminary basic understanding of the means and the objectives of The Honorable Elijah Muhammad, and also I am thankful to Allah for bringing so many people out here tonight, especially just before Christmas. You know, it's next to a miracle when you get this many of our people together so close to Christmas interested in anything whatsoever that's serious. And actually what this shows is the change that's taking place among the so-called Negroes not only here in New York but throughout the entire world.
Today in Black History: February 11, 1644 Enslaved Africans protested and won their freedom establishing the first black community of freed Africans.
Recognized as the first settlement established by freed Africans on the American continent, right here in New York City, (at the time known as New Amersterdam) eleven African petitioned for their freedom after fulfilling the term of their “contracts” to a Dutch Company. This community is located in what is now known as the heart of Manhattan’s art and fashion scenes.
Sasa Juste has a message for the culture vultures, with her new track "Bad Juju".
Sasa Juste makes sure that every black woman is heard and felt. She reminds everyone of the vast and beautiful legacy while detailing the struggles of black women in a white-washed society that tells them that their hair is not good enough, their style is not good enough and they don’t deserve to be honored as founders of such styles.
Today in Black History: February 5, 1884 Willis Johnson invented the mechanical egg beater
African-American Willis Johnson of Cincinnati, Ohio, patented and improved the mechanical egg beater (U.S. pat# 292,821) on February 5, 1884. The beater was made up of a handle attached to a series of spring-like whisk wires used to help mix ingredients. Prior to his eggbeater, all mixing of ingredients was done by hand and was quite labor-intensive and time-consuming.
Today in Black History: February 3, 1964 New York City Public School Boycott, Nearly a Half Million Children skip Class
Though segregation in New York was not codified like the Jim Crow laws in the South, a de facto segregation was evident in the city’s school system.
Picketers, made up of teachers, parents, students and activists, marched at 300 of the city’s 860 schools, The New York Times reported. The protest culminated in a march across the Brooklyn Bridge to the Board of Education building on Livingston Street in downtown Brooklyn.
Directing the boycott was long-time civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, who had been a chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington and had helped organize the first Freedom Ride in 1947.
Today in Black History: January 29, 1954 Oprah Gail Winfrey is Born
Renowned television talk show host Oprah Winfrey is sometimes called the most influential woman of the 20th century, and perhaps rightly so, as she has her own globally viewed talk show, television network, magazine and millions of fans. Oprah Gail Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954 in Missouri to unwed teenage parents. She lived in poverty, first with her mother, then grandmother and then biological father and admitted to having been sexually abused by her male relatives as a child. She enrolled at Tennessee State University in 1971 and landed a part time job as a radio show host after winning the Miss Black Tennessee beauty pageant.
Today in Black history…