May 20, 1743 Francois-Dominique Toussaint L’Ouverture, Haitian patriot and revolutionary leader, was born enslaved in Saint-Domingue, Hispaniola (now Haiti). At an early age, Toussaint’s master recognized his superior intelligence and taught him French, gave him duties which allowed him to educate himself, and freed him at age 33. Beginning in 1791, Toussaint led enslaved blacks […]
Archive | May 20, 2011
May 20th in African American History – David Alexander Paterson
May 20, 1954 David Alexander Paterson, the first African American Governor of New York and the second legally blind Governor of any state, was born in Brooklyn, New York. At the age of three months, Paterson contracted an infection which left him with no sight in his left eye and limited vision in his right. […]