BY WALTER OPINDE On this day, May 23, 1975, the first African-American standup comedian, Jackie Moms Mabley, dies. She achieved a great professional and commercial success during the age in which there were very few African-American females on the comedy platforms. Famous with her stage name, ...

The city of New York hired Gertrude Hadley Jeanette, as its first woman licensed taxi driver in 1942. Jeanette also later became a notable  film and stage actress and playwright. Jeanette was born in Urbana, Arkansas in 1914 to a mother who was a homemaker and father who taught on a Native ...

Key Facts About Gwendolyn Bennett: Kidnapped by her father at an early age First black member of her high school's literature and theater organizations An influential figure of the Harlem Renaissance Literary Poet and Artist   Famed Harlem writer, Gwendolyn Bennett, spent ...

Editors: Dr. Asa Hilliard, Larry Williams, Nia Damali, and Victor Trammell By Bashir Muhammad Akinyele Photo credits: Martino Publishing {I will use the words Afrikan and Black interchangeably for people of African descent)The late Dr. John Henrik Clarke, the legendary Africana Studies ...

During the Baixa de Cassanje and UPA revolts in early 1961, there was another conflict that February in the 1961 Luanda Attacks. Luanda Attacks The Assaults in Luanda in 1961 saw Black guerrilla forces takeover several military and police buildings in a bid to release political prisoners. The ...

At Black Then, we frequently see interesting photos that give us a glimpse into the past. They tend to show us a piece of black history that is often not covered in textbooks, in history classes, or shown in the media. In a photo that we found on Black History Album , we see this great ...

While he was held under house arrest for some time in September along with Kasa-Vubu, Lumumba and others would escape. The house arrest was initiated by the U.N to keep chief-of-staff Colonel Joseph Mobutu from arresting them. There was a fear that he would be dispatched under suspicious circumst...

Africa in 1961 was undergoing a number of often violent political changes. In Angola, independence from Portugal was ongoing. Meanwhile, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in-fighting would come to an end with the execution--or assassination--of Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba and two close ...

On this day American writer and important figure of the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes, died. Born James Mercer Langston Hughes on February 1, 1902, to school teacher Carrie (Caroline) Mercer Langston and James Nathaniel Hughes. After his parents divorced, he was raised by his mother and ...

The Watts Rebellion took place in the Watts neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, between August 11th and August 17th, 1965. The incident was the culmination of decades of government oppression and repression of the Black majority population of Los Angeles, ranging from illegal beatings, ...

Freedom cases such as those Elizabeth "Mum Bett" Freeman are something often overshadowed by a case such as the Dred Scott decision. Another important colonial case was that of Quock Walker. This was a case that served as the basis to end slavery in Massachusetts decades before the institution ...

One day before President Woodrow Wilson took office, Alice Paul led a group of women protesters in support of a constitutional amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote. By the end of the day, over 100 women had to be hospitalized for injuries. Despite being told to march at the back of the ...