December 16, 1938 Jimmie Lee Jackson, Civil Rights protester, was born in Marion, Alabama. Jackson was a deacon in his church who had unsuccessfully tried to register to vote for four years. On February 18, 1965, around 500 people attempted a peaceful walk to the Perry County jail where a young Civil Rights worker was […]
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December 15th in African American History – Septima Poinsette Clark
December 15, 1987 Septima Poinsette Clark, “grandmother of the Civil Rights Movement,” died. Clark was born May 3, 1898 in Charleston, South Carolina. She graduated from high school in 1916, but could not afford to attend college. As an African American, she was barred from teaching in the Charleston public schools therefore she began teaching […]
December 14th in African American History – Aloyisus Leon Higginbotham, Jr.
December 14, 1998 Aloyisus Leon Higginbotham, Jr., civil rights advocate, author and federal judge, died. Higginbotham was born February 25, 1928 in Ewing, New Jersey. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1949 from Antioch College and his Bachelor of Laws degree from Yale University in 1952. From 1954 to 1962, he worked in […]
December 10th in African American History – Henry L. Marsh III
December 10, 1933 Henry L. Marsh III, civil rights lawyer and politician, was born in Richmond, Virginia. Marsh earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from Virginia Union University in 1956 and his Bachelor of Laws degree from Howard University School of Law in 1959. After law school, he formed a law firm and […]
December 4th in African American History – Fred Hampton, Sr.
December 4, 1969 Fred Hampton, Sr., Black Panther leader, was assassinated. Hampton was born August 30, 1948 in Chicago, Illinois but grew up in Maywood, a suburb of Chicago. At an early age, he became active in the NAACP Youth Council, assuming leadership and growing the organization to 500 members. He worked to get more […]
December 2nd in African American History – Odetta Holmes
December 2, 2008 Odetta Holmes, singer, actress, songwriter, and human rights activist, died. Odetta was born December 31, 1930 in Birmingham, Alabama. Her first professional experience was in musical theater in 1944 and in 1949 she joined the “Finian’s Rainbow” touring company. She began her solo career in 1956 with “Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues” […]
December 1st in African American History – Rosa Louise McCauley Parks
December 1, 1955 Rosa Louise McCauley Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama city bus and quietly set off a social revolution. On the Montgomery city buses, the first ten seats were permanently reserved for white passengers. Mrs. Parks was seated in the first row behind those seats.