June 13, 1980 Walter Rodney, prominent Guyanese historian and political activist, was assassinated by a bomb placed in his car. Rodney was born March 23, 1942. He graduated from the University of the West Indies in 1963 and earned his Ph. D. in 1966 at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. His […]
Archive | June, 2011
June 12th in African American History – Supreme Court Case Loving v. Virginia
June 12, 1967 The United States Supreme Court in the case of Loving v. Virginia ruled that Virginia’s anti-miscegenation statue, the Racial Integrity Act of 1924, was unconstitutional. This ruling ended all race-based legal restrictions on marriage in the United States. The Racial Integrity Act was a state law that banned marriage between any white […]
June 12th in African American History – Medgar Wiley Evers
June 12, 1963 Medgar Wiley Evers, civil rights activist, was assassinated. Evers was born July 2, 1925 in Decatur, Mississippi. In 1943, he was inducted into the army where he fought in France during World War II and was honorably discharged in 1945 as a sergeant. Evers earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in business […]
June 11th in African American History – Earl Shinhoster
June 11, 2000 Earl Shinhoster, civil rights leader, died in a car accident. Shinhoster was born July 5, 1950 in Savannah, Georgia. He got involved in the NAACP’s Savannah branch youth council at a young age and was president of the council at 16. Shinhoster earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from Morehouse College […]
June 11th in African American History – Johnny D. Bright
June 11, 1930 Johnny D. Bright, hall of fame Canadian Football League player, was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Bright played college football at Drake University where he led the nation in total offense in 1949 and 1950. On October 20, 1951 in a game against Oklahoma State University, Bright was violently assaulted by white […]
June 10th in African American History – John Arthur “Jack” Johnson
June 10, 1946 John Arthur “Jack” Johnson, the first black World Heavyweight Champion, died in a car crash. Johnson was born March 31, 1878 in Galveston, Texas. By 1902, he had won at least 50 fights against white and black opponents and in 1903 he won the World Colored Heavyweight Championship. Johnson finally won the […]
June 10th in African American History – Ray Charles
June 10, 2004 Ray Charles, pioneering R&B, gospel, blues and country musician, died. Born Ray Charles Robinson on September 23, 1930 in Albany, Georgia, Charles began to lose his sight at the age of five and was completely blind by the age of seven. In 1943, he began to perform around Tallahassee and Jacksonville, Florida. […]