This Week In Black History January 24-30, 2024

• JANUARY 24

1874—Arthur Schomburg is born Arturo Alfonso Schomburg in Puerto Rico. After moving to New York City in April 1891, he became known over time as the “Sherlock Holmes” of Black his­tory because of his relentless digging for Black historical truths and accom­plishments. Reportedly, his drive to discover Black history was sparked by a fifth grade teacher who told him “Black people have no history, no he­roes, no great moments.”

1885—Martin R. Delaney (1812- 1885) dies on this day in Xenia, Ohio. Delaney was perhaps the leading Black nationalist of the 1800s. After fighting in the Civil War to end slav­ery and becoming the first Black field officer in the U.S. Army, Delaney be­came disillusioned with America. He began to advocate Black separatism and/or a return to Africa. He was a journalist and a physician who wrote several books including one detailing how ancient Egypt and Ethiopia were the first great civilizations long before ancient Greece. Although relatively unknown today, Delaney was also bril­liant. Abraham Lincoln once told his Edwin Stanton, secretary of war, about Delaney, saying, “Do not fail to meet this most extraordinary and intelligent Black man.”

1993—The first Black U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall died on this day. Unlike current justice Clar­ence Thomas, Marshall was a true pro­gressive and fighter for Black rights, having spent years with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund waging ongoing battles with the legal establishment to protect and expand rights and oppor­tunities for African Americans.

• JANUARY 26

1893—“Queen Bess,” Bessie Cole­man, the nation’s first Black female aviator, was born in the small town of Atlanta, Texas. Coleman was also the first African American (male or fe­male) to earn an international pilot’s license. Because of the racism and sexism in America, she had to trav­el to France to earn the license. She traveled the U.S. encouraging oth­er Blacks to become pilots. Queen Bess died in plane accident in 1926.

1944—Political activist Angela Da­vis is born in Birmingham, Ala. She was a brilliant scholar and philoso­pher who made the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list because of her suspect­ed involvement in the violent Aug. 7, 1970 courthouse attempt to free jailed Black revolutionary inmate George Jackson. She was also asso­ciated with the Black Panther Party. However, shortly after the 1968 as­sassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., she joined the Communist Party. She later became a tenured profes­sor at the University of California Santa Cruz although then governor and later U.S. President Ronald Rea­gan had vowed to block her from teaching.

• JANUARY 27

1953—One of Black America’s most gifted novelists, Ralph Ellison, wins the prestigious National Book Award with his powerful novel “The Invisible Man.” The novel helped him achieve international fame. The main char­acter constantly escapes one disas­ter after another. The disasters are brought on by a combination virulent racism and the character’s own na­iveté. Ellison was born in Oklahoma City, Okla.

1961—Opera diva Leontyne Price makes her debut at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.

1972—Mahalia Jackson, generally considered the greatest gospel sing­er that ever lived, dies of heart failure on this day near Chicago, Ill. She was born in New Orleans, La. She settled in Chicago where she briefly studied beauty culture under the nation’s first Black millionaire, Madame C.J. Walk­er. Among her greatest and most fre­quently requested songs were “Did It Rain,” “Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho, “ “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands,” and “When the Saints Go Marching In.”

• JANUARY 28

1938—Crystal Byrd Fauset be­comes the first Black woman elected to a state legislature when she wins a seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

1944—Matthew Henson receives a medal from the U.S. Congress for be­ing co-discoverer of the North Pole along with Robert Peary. The medal, however, came 35 years after the historic feat because Peary, a White man and Henson’s boss, received all the credit for decades. However, records show that Henson, leading a party of four Inuits (Eskimos) actually reached the North Pole 45 minutes before Peary.

1989—After 62 years and numer­ous protests, the Colgate-Palmolive Company ends the sale of “Darkie Toothpaste.” The toothpaste, which was only sold in Asia, was renamed “Darlie” and the Sambo-style charac­ter on the tube was dropped.

• JANUARY 29

1837—The great Russian literary genius Alexander Pushkin dies on this day as a result of a duel. He is generally considered Russia’s great­est poet. Unlike many famous Euro­peans of color, Pushkin was proud of his Black heritage, which is traced to his great grandfather on his mother’s side—Ibrahim Petrovich Gannibal who was most probably an Ethiopian who became part of Russian royalty. Pushkin’s poetic style combined dra­ma, romance and satire.

1908—Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity is incorporated. The Black Greek-let­ter organization was actually found­ed, however, on Dec. 4, 1906. The “brothers of the black and gold” have included as members a host of distinguished men ranging from W.E.B. DuBois to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

1913—Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority is incorporated. It is the nation’s old­est Black Greek-letter sorority hav­ing been founded at Howard Univer­sity in Washington, D.C., in 1908. The AKAs are currently headquartered in Chicago, Ill.

1954—Talk-show diva Oprah Win­frey was born on this day in Koscius­ko, Miss. However, she was raised in Nashville, Tenn. Winfrey ended her popular “Oprah” show in 2011. She has already launched her own net­work, OWN.

• JANUARY 30

1797—Sojourner Truth is born Isa­bella Baumfree in Ulster County, N.Y. She becomes the most influential and powerfully spoken Black female ab­olitionists of the 1800s. She worked with other fiery abolitionists includ­ing William Lloyd Garrison and Fred­erick Douglass. She says, in 1843, a spiritual revelation compelled her to change her name and preach for the end of slavery. She was also deeply religious and a strong spokesperson for a woman’s right to vote.

1797—The first multi-state organiza­tion of Blacks in America is formed when Black Masons in Boston, Mass., led by Prince Hall, create Af­rican-American Masonic lodges in Philadelphia, Pa., and Providence, R.I. Overtime, the Prince Hall Masons would become a major force in Black communities around the nation.

1800—The Census Bureau reveals that the United States has a popula­tion of 5,300,000 of which 1,002,000 or 19 percent were Blacks. Today, African Americans constitute rough­ly 13 percent of the U.S. population. However, the latest Census projec­tions say the percentage of Blacks in America is not expected to grow over the next 40 years, while the Hispanic population is projected to skyrocket.

1926—The Harlem Globetrotters, a comedic but highly skilled basketball team, is organized by Abe Saperstein in Chicago, Ill. The group’s original name was the “Savoy Big Five” after Chicago’s Savoy Ballroom. However, in their early games they wore jer­seys suggesting they were from New York. After World War II, they also achieved international fame playing in more than 100 countries. Some of the greatest names to play with the Globetrotters were Geese Aus­bie, Goose Tatum, Marques Haynes, Curly Neal and Meadowlark Lemon.

1956—The Montgomery, Ala., home of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is bombed by racists apparent­ly angered by his leadership of the Montgomery bus boycott, which set the modern Civil Rights Movement into motion. This would be the first of several attempts on the civil rights legend’s life.