February 23rd, 2023

ALEXANDRIA, La. (WNTZ) – On this day, Constance Baker Motley is elected as the first Black borough president of Manhattan. This is occurred one year after she became the first Black woman elected to the New York Senate. Motley’s remarkable career, which began as a law clerk and ended as a judge on the Federal Court, paved the way for many others.

February 22nd, 2023

ALEXANDRIA, La. (WNTZ) – Frank E. Peterson Jr. named the first black general in the Marine Corps.

February 21st, 2023

ALEXANDRIA, La. (WNTZ) – An African American nationalist and religious figure named Malcolm X is slain in New York City as he speaks to his Organization of Afro-American Unity at the Audubon Ballroom in Washington Heights. He was 39.

February 20th, 2023

ALEXANDRIA, La. (WNTZ) – On this day, in 1895, Death of Frederick Douglass. Douglass was the leading black spokesman for almost 50 years.

February 19th, 2023

ALEXANDRIA, La. (WNTZ) – First Black Olympian to win Gold in Winter Games is Vonetta Flowers. Flowers was the first member of her family to enroll in college after she completed her high school education in 1992 at P.D. Jackson School.

February 18th, 2023

ALEXANDRIA, La. (WNTZ) – On this day in 1688, Germantown, Pennsylvania Quakers presented the first official white organized body protest against slavery at a monthly meeting. In the famous Germantown Protest, slavery and the slave trade were condemned.

February 17th, 2023

ALEXANDRIA, La. (WNTZ) – On this day, in 1870, Mississippi was granted readmission by Congress under the condition that it would never amend its constitution to deny Black people the right to vote. This was nine years after Mississippi seceded to join the Confederacy for the Civil War.

February 16th, 2023

ALEXANDRIA, La. (WNTZ) – On this day, in 1957, author and actor Levar Burton was born. Burton is known for his role as Kunta Kinte in Roots, Geordi in Star Trek: Next Generation, and the beloved host of Reading Rainbow. To this day, Levar Burton is a permanent fixture in the Pop Culture Parthenon alongside the likes of Neil Degrasse Tyson and Bill Nye.

February 15th, 2023

ALEXANDRIA, La. (WNTZ) – On this day, in 1851 Black abolitionists invaded a Boston courtroom and rescued a fugitive slave. Lewis Hayden led a faction of a Black militia known as the Massasoit Guards in a siege against Massachusetts courthouse to save Shadrach Minkins, a man escaping slavery in Virginia.

February 14th, 2023

ALEXANDRIA, La. (WNTZ) – On this day, in 1818, African American abolitionist, author, and orator Frederick Douglass (born February 14).

February 13th, 2023

ALEXANDRIA, La. (WNTZ) – On this day, in 1957, Southern Christian Leadership Conference organized at New Orleans meeting with Martin Luther King Jr. as president. For perspective, this is the same year as the post WWI baby boom, and the Little Rock Nine school integration.

February 12th, 2023

ALEXANDRIA, La. (WNTZ) – On this day, in 1909, The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded. A group of individuals led by W. E. B. Du Bois, Mary White Ovington, Moorfield Storey, and Ida B. Wells founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909 as an interracial effort to establish justice for African Americans. Roy Wilkins and Thurgood Marshall were among the group’s leaders.

February 11th, 2023

ALEXANDRIA, La. (WNTZ) – On this day, in 1990, Nelson Mandela was released from Victor Verster Prison after being detained for 27 years as political prisoner. Nelson Mandela’s part in leading the political forefront against apartheid, he became the first president of South Africa from 1994-1999. 1990 is the same year the Hubble Telescope launched, beginning of the Human Genome Project, release of the Super Nintendo, and the Rwandan Conflict initiated.

February 10th, 2023

ALEXANDRIA, La. (WNTZ) – On this day, The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 290-130, following 12 days of discussion and voting on 125 amendments. Essentially bringing a halt to Jim Crow laws, The Civil Rights Act of 1964 bans discrimination on the basis of national origin, racial or ethnic origin, or color of one’s skin in the workplace, federal programs, public spaces and accommodations. For perspective, this is the same year as the Dixmoor, Rochester, Harlem, and Singapore riots and John F. Kennedy’s assassination.

February 9th, 2023

ALEXANDRIA, La. (WNTZ) – On this day, in 1971, Leroy “Satchel” Paige is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. One of the most prolific pitchers in baseball history, Satchel was the 7th Black man to play in the Major Leagues. Born on 1906, and passing in 1982, Paige got to witness his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. For perspective, this is the same year Charles Manson was sentenced to death, Sierra Leone became a republic, and the world’s first domestic violence shelter was established.

February 8th, 2023

ALEXANDRIA, La. (WNTZ) – Three Black youths were killed and about 30 others were injured when police in Orangeburg, South Carolina police officers opened fire on a group of young people participating in a protest against racial segregation on the evening of February 8, 1968. This became known as the Orangeburg Massacre, and the bowling alley that persisted segregation didn’t close until 2007. For perspective, this is the same year as Senator Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, the founding of Intel, the world’s third known successful heart transplant, the arrest of the Kray Twins, and France became the world’s fifth nuclear superpower.

February 7th, 2023

ALEXANDRIA, La. (WNTZ) – On this day in 1926, Carter G. Woodson, set the first celebration of Negro History Week into motion. This led to Black History Month eventually gaining federal recognition enriching the study and scholarship on African American history. Woodson was the son of former slaves, who became a teacher, scholar, and public speaker with the NAACP after spending some time as a coalminer. Born in 1875 and passing away in 1950, Carter G. Woodson became known as the Father of Black History. For perspective, this is the same year the Convention to Suppress the Slave Trade and Slavery is first signed, the death of Harry Houdini, and 27 tornadoes hit the Midwest at the same time.

February 6th, 2023

ALEXANDRIA, La. (WNTZ) – Robert Tanner Jackson became first African American to receive a degree in dentistry on this day in 1867. For perspective, this is the same year the Harvard School of Dental Medicine was established (making it the first dental school in the United States), the US purchase of Alaska from Russia, and the first elevated railroad in North America rolled into action.

February 5th, 2023

ALEXANDRIA, La. (WNTZ) – In order to aid mix ingredients, Willis Johnson invented a tool with a handle connected to a number of spring-like whisk wires. Before he invented the eggbeater in 1844, all ingredient mixing was done by hand.

February 4th, 2023

ALEXANDRIA, La. (WNTZ) – Rosa Parks (born Rosa Louise McCauley) was born on this day in 1913.

February 3rd, 2023

ALEXANDRIA, La. (WNTZ) – The title of Negro Heavyweight is won by Jack Johnson in 1903. On this same day, in 1920, The Negro Baseball League is established.

February 2nd, 2023

ALEXANDRIA, La. (WNTZ) – In a special message to Congress, President Truman urged the passage of a Civil Rights program that included the establishment of a fair employment practices commission.

February 1st, 2023

ALEXANDRIA, La. (WNTZ) – Illustrious Black poet, Langston Hughes born on this day, in 1901. Some of his most imminent works are A Dream Deferred, Ways of White Folk, and Black Nativity.