October 24, 1948 Frizzell Gerald Gray (Kweisi Mfume), former head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), was born in Baltimore, Maryland. At the age of 16, Mfume dropped out of high school and worked a number of jobs. At the age of 23, he returned to his studies and in […]
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October 23rd in African American History – The National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes
October 23, 1911 The National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes was formed. The League was formed as the result of the merger of The Committee on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, The Committee for the Improvement of Industrial Conditions Among Negroes in New York and The National League for the Protection of Colored Women.
October 18th in African American History – Cyril Valentine Briggs
October 18, 1966 Cyril Valentine Briggs, writer and political activist, died. Briggs was born May 28, 1888 in Nevis, West Indies. He moved to New York City in 1905 and got his first writing job at the Amsterdam News in 1912. In 1917, Briggs founded the African Blood Brotherhood to stop lynchings in the South […]
October 16th in African American History – The Million Man March
October 16, 1995 The Million Man March occurred in Washington, D.C.Led by the Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, black men from across the country converged on Washington to “convey to the world a vastly different picture of the Black male and to unite in self-help and self-defense against the economic and social ills plaguing […]
October 13th in African American History – Vivian Juanita Malone
October 13, 2005 Vivian Juanita Malone, one of the first two African Americans to enroll at the University of Alabama, died. Malone was born July 15, 1942 in Mobile, Alabama. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Alabama A&M but the college lost its accreditation. To get an accredited degree, Malone applied to the University of […]
October 11th in African American History – Spottswood William Robinson, III
October 11, 1998 Spottswood William Robinson, III, educator, civil rights attorney, and judge, died. Robinson was born July 26, 1916 in Richmond, Virginia. He earned his undergraduate degree from Virginia Union University in 1936 and in 1939 earned his Bachelor of Laws degree from Howard University, graduating first in his class and achieving the highest […]
October 6th in African American History – Joseph Echols Lowery
October 6, 1921 Joseph Echols Lowery, minister and “the dean of the Civil Rights Movement,” was born in Huntsville, Alabama. Lowery earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Paine College and his Bachelor of Divinity degree from Paine Theological Seminary in 1950. He later completed a doctorate of divinity degree at the Chicago Ecumenical Institute.