August 23, 1900 The National Negro Business League was founded in Boston, Massachusetts with Booker T. Washington as its first president. Its membership included the elite of black business leaders as well as a large number of the upwardly aspiring black middle class. In 1966, the organization was renamed the National Business League and reincorporated […]
About Chimsima Zuhri
August 23rd in African American History – Phillip Emeagwali
August 23, 1954 Phillip Emeagwali, engineer, computer scientist, and geologist, was born in Akure, Nigeria. Emeagwali earned his Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from Oregon State University in 1977, his Master of Science degree in civil engineering from George Washington University in 1981, and his Master of Arts degree in applied mathematics from the […]
August 22nd in African American History – Jomo Kenyatta
August 22, 1978 Jomo Kenyatta, first Prime Minister and President of Kenya, died. Kenyatta was born in the village of Ngende, Gatundu, in British East Africa (now Kenya) in the early to mid-1890s. No formal birth records of native Africans were kept at that time. In 1929, Kenyatta moved to Europe for education and work. […]
August 22nd in African American History – Huey Percy Newton
August 22, 1989 Huey Percy Newton, co-founder and leader of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was fatally shot. Huey Percy Newton was born February 17, 1942 in Monroe, Louisiana but raised in Oakland, California. In 1966, while at Oakland City College, he and Bobby Seale organized the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. Seale became chairman […]
August 21st in African American History – James Anderson, Jr.
August 21, 1968 James Anderson, Jr. posthumously received the Medal of Honor, America’s highest military decoration, for heroism while serving in Vietnam, making him the first African American United States Marine recipient of the medal. Anderson was born January 22, 1947 in Los Angeles, California and enlisted in the marines in 1966. He was promoted […]
August 21st in African American History – Thaddeus Joseph “Thad” Jones
August 21, 1986 Thaddeus Joseph “Thad” Jones, jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader, died. Jones was born March 28, 1923 in Pontiac, Michigan. He was a self-taught musician and began playing professionally at the age of 16. He served in the United States Army from 1943 to 1946. In 1954, Jones joined the Count Basie Orchestra […]
August 20th in African American History – Eugene Thurman Upshaw, Jr.
August 20, 2008 Eugene Thurman Upshaw, Jr., hall of fame football player and labor leader, died. Eugene Thurman Upshaw was born August 15, 1945 in Robstown, Texas. He played college football at Texas A&I University and earned his Bachelor of Science degree in 1968. Upshaw was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the 1967 AFL Draft. […]