Little Known Black History Facts
Cheryl Boone Isaacs has become the first African American president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The 86-year-old Academy is responsible for the annual Oscar Awards. The president is elected through its Board of Governors, a 48-person board who chose Boone-Isaacs for the role. Though the AMPAS’ reputation has been predominately white […]
Tennessee representative Lois DeBerry was one of the longest-serving women lawmakers in the nation. She was the first black woman elected to the General Assembly from Shelby County and the second throughout the state of Tennessee. The African American Congresswoman was elected in 1972 and was the first woman speaker pro tempore in the House […]
Tammy Williams is the first black woman to own her own post-production studio in the state of Georgia. Williams has recently started Open River Studios in Fayetteville. Open Rivers Studios is a 16,000 sq. ft. complex with production and post-production operations. Williams hopes to attract Independent filmmakers and provide original programming that will lead to […]
In 1955, 18-year-old Willie Reed of Greenwood, Mississippi saw a green and white Chevrolet pickup truck pass him on the road and stop in front of a barn. He soon heard vicious screams coming from that same barn where a young boy was being savagely beaten. That young boy was 14-year-old Emmett Till. Reed would […]
Moses Mathis was a resident of the Tiffany Pines neighborhood in Fayetteville, NC. He was best known as “The Bicycle Man.” By 1990, Mathis was fed up with the drug activity on his street so he opened The Tiffany Pines Community Outreach Center and began handing out and repairing bikes to the children in his […]
A town crier is defined as “an officer of the court who makes public announcements and royal proclamations.” As early as the 15th and 16th century, the town crier was the main news source of the townspeople. One of the first official American Town Criers was Peter Logan, a black slave who purchased his family’s […]
A plaque honoring America’s first black Army infantry, the 54th Regiment, now sits at the corner of Beacon and Park Streets in Boston. The Shaw Memorial by sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens is a new monument that stands 11 feet tall and 14 feet wide. It honors the fallen black soldiers who fought bravely in the Civil […]
In a gripping story of war and courage, Ensign Jesse L. Brown, the U.S. Navy’s first black pilot, died when his plane’s fuel line took a bullet. It was December 4, 1950. His partner, a white pilot named Thomas Hudner, crash-landed his own plane to try and save his wingman. His efforts were lost. Brown […]
In Lima, Peru, there is a tradition among the rich and prominent to hire black pallbearers for family funerals. The presence of black pallbearers signifies wealth in the country. Wearing tuxedos and white gloves, the pallbearers make about $5 per funeral and around $70 a week. The practice started in Spain during colonial times when […]
The Queens Village playground located near 4th and Queen Street in Queen Village, Pennsylvania is now a place of fun for kids, but it used to be a historic black cemetery. Formerly known as the Bethel Burial Ground, the land has been said to have at least 1,500 deceased blacks buried on the grounds between […]
Philadelphia is the new home of its first black owned bus company, S-T-S-C Transportation Services. The company was founded by black attorney, Jeremy Walker, and a few other investors. The busline had it’s grand opening on June 27th. The new black-owned business comes after the U.S. Dept of Transportation shut down 26 bus operators last […]
Colonel Wayne Black has become the first black Brigadier General in the Indiana National Guard. After serving for 30 years, Black was promoted this past Saturday at a ceremony at the Indiana War Memorial. Black will help to lead Indiana’s National Guard of almost 14,000 service members. Colonel Black joined the Indiana National Guard in […]
