As everyone knows, Black history is America history. Our struggles and victories have affected this country for centuries, even though we don’t always receive our just due. With Black History Month right around the corner, The Root takes a look at the most unforgettable moments that have undoubtedly shaped us as a whole.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott began in 1955 and was a civil rights protest in which Black folks refused to ride city buses in Montgomery, Alabama, to protest segregated seating. Four days before the boycott, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man. The Montgomery Bus Boycott is seen as the first large-scale U.S. demonstration against segregation. It ended in 1956.
The Selma to Montgomery March took place in 1965 in Alabama. In March, protesters walked the 54-mile route in an effort to register Black voters in the South. However, they were met with violence from white vigilante groups as well as local authorities. Moments from the brutal confrontations were captured on television.
Hattie McDaniel made history by becoming the first African American to win an Oscar for her supporting role as Mammy—Scarlett O’Hara’s house slave—in the 1939 movie “Gone with the Wind.” However, the ceremony was held at the segregated Ambassador Hotel which meant that McDaniel wasn’t allowed to sit with the cast of the film.
In September 1963, white supremacists bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. As a result, four young Black girls were killed. The church bombing happened 11 days after the federal government had ordered the integration of Alabama’s school system. Birmingham also had one of the most violent chapters of the Ku Klux Klan.
In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that racial segregation in public schools violated the 14th Amendment’s mandate of equal protection of the laws of the U.S. Constitution. In the Brown decision, Chief Justice Earl Warren famously stated that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”
In May 2020, 46-year-old George Floyd died after being handcuffed and pinned to the ground by police officer Derek Chauvin. Chauvin was recorded kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes. The day after Floyd’s killing, protestors in Minneapolis took to the streets to express their outrage. These protests would quickly spread across the country.
On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama was the Black first person to be inaugurated as President of the United States. He was also re-elected and served two consecutive terms, making him the 44th president. His father grew up in Kenya while his mother—who is white—hailed from Kansas.
The 1921 Tulsa massacre is considered the worst incident of racial violence in American history. From May 31 and June 1, 1921, more than one thousand homes and businesses were destroyed, with the death toll ranging from fifty to three hundred. Oklahoma’s second-largest Black community had been demolished.
In 1963, around 250,000 people—both Black and white—took part in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Martin Luther King Jr. made an appearance and preached about nonviolent resistance. “I have a dream,” King said in his famous speech.
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” He ended one of the greatest speeches in American history with: “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!’”
In 1968, Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman in Congress. In 1972, she tried her hand at the presidency. Though she didn’t win a primary, Chisholm received more than 150 votes at the Democratic National Convention. Chisholm made history by becoming the first Black woman to seek nomination for President of the United States from one of the two major political parties.
In 1992, the four Los Angeles officers accused of using excessive force in the violent beating of Black motorist Rodney King were found not guilty after the case was tried. This injustice led to four days of the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles. When they finally ended, 55 people were dead, more than 2,300 injured, and more than 1,000 buildings were burned to the ground. King ultimately received $3.8 million from the city in a settlement.
In 1995, hundreds of thousands of Black men participated in the Million Man March in Washington D.C. It was organized by minister Louis Farrakhan, who is known for his work with the Nation of Islam. The march was to dispel negative images and stereotypes of Black men. Its success inspired the Million Woman March, which took place two years later in Philadelphia.
In January 2021, Kamala Harris made history by becoming the first woman and first Black person to become Vice President of the United States. She was nominated by former President Joe Biden during the Democratic party’s “remote” national convention in 2020. Harris’ mother immigrated to the United States from India and her father immigrated from Jamaica.
