Be thoughtful of origin, heritage and culture
It is essential to becoming the person of substance
Your ancestors intended you to be
The Lesson Black History
H("i")pnotic and Chris Beatz Leath
Acknowledging online databases
Because of Them We Can and
The Black History Education Zone
Reminding everyone to
Celebrate all year long
Reflect on this history with me
Affirming facts of the 19th and 20th Centuries
In January
1863 Emancipation Proclamation is delivered
1955 opera soloist Marian Anderson performs at the Metropolitan Opera
1986 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's birthday is declared
By the United States government a federal holiday
In February
1865 John S. Rock who coined the phrase
Black is Beautiful is admitted to the bar of
The United States Supreme Court
1926 Carter G. Woodson establishes Negro History Week
Later becoming Black History Month
In March
1827 the Freedom's Journal is established
1857 the consequential Dred Scott v. Sanford Plessy v. Ferguson decision
Is rendered by the United States Supreme Court
1988 Author Toni Morrison is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Beloved
In April
1947 Jackie Robinson signs a contract with
The Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team
1974 Hammering Hank Aaron hits his 715th homerun
Shattering the previous records
In May
1875 Jockey Oliver Lewis wins the first Kentucky Derby
1954 the United States Supreme Court renders its
School anti-segregation decision in Brown v. The Board of Education Of Topeka Kansas
Per the 14th Constitutional Amendment
Sparking renewed efforts for equality
Protests and Freedom Rides
In June
1864 Seaman Joachim Pease earns the Congressional Medal of Honor
For bravery in battle
1865 United States federal troops assure
The Texas state government recognizes that enslaved men women and children are now freed
Two years after the Emancipation Proclamation
We now celebrate Juneteenth to commemorate this significant moment
In July
1852 Frederick Douglass delivers his hallmark speech
Known as What To The Slave Is The 4th Of July
1948 Althea Gibson wins the tennis championship at Wimbledon
Arthur Ashe follows her lead in 1975
In August
1936 Jesse JC Owens wins three gold medals at the Olympics
1963 hundreds of thousands of people gather for
The March on Washington DC for Jobs and Freedom
In September
1859 Harriet E. Wilson publishes Our Nig Sketches from the Life of a Free Black
1975 Daniel Chappie James becomes a four-star general in the United States Air Force
In October
1951 Opera singer and music teacher Belinda Staten Womack is born
And becomes a tremendous light
Through her gift of music education to all
1944 The implementation of the US Naval WAVES program
Leads to Harriet Ida Pickens and Frances Wills
Becoming commissioned officers
In November
1887 Granville T. Woods makes it possible for
Moving trains to communicate with each other
Decreasing accidents with his invention in railway telegraphy
1945 John H. Johnson publishes Ebony Magazine
1968 Shirley Chisholm is elected to the United States House of Representatives
And eventually becomes a formidable contender
For the 1972 presidential primary
Her slogan Unbought and Unbossed
In December
1849 Harriet Tubman escapes from the bowels of chattel slavery
And becomes an iconic beacon of hope
In the quest for freedom for every generation thereafter
1950 Ralph Bunche earns the Nobel Peace Prize
For his work in the Middle East through the United Nations
Celebrate with me
Facts in Black History especially in the 19th and 20th Centuries
Black Black History
Not just for you and me
But for everybody